Croatia launches ISA student financing model backed by EIF deal

The Zagreb-based Algebra Bernays University announced a new study financing option supported by the European Investment Fund (EIF), following the signing of an €800,000 agreement aimed at removing financial barriers to university enrolment.

It is a financing model based on so-called Income Share Agreements (ISA), in which students do not pay tuition upfront but instead repay the cost after gaining employment, depending on their income, CE Report quotes HINA.

As explained by Lino Pujol, co-founder of Quotanda, a pan-European platform managing student financing programs, this is a system in which financial risk is shared between students and partners, with support from the EIF through the InvestEU mechanisms. Such models are already being applied in Europe to increase access to education and enable deferred tuition payments.

Marko Primorac, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and former Finance Minister, stated that this financing model could be expanded to other universities in Croatia. As he noted, it “ensures that talent and motivation, not financial situation, determine success,” with flexible financing models and repayment only after graduation “in line with actual income.”

He emphasized the importance of such models in stopping youth emigration and strengthening the economy.

Rector of Algebra Bernays University, Mislav Balković, also warned about demographic challenges:

“We no longer have pronounced emigration as a result of the desire for a better life, but a problem of birth rates; in secondary schools we are seeing a decline of around 18 percent. Without people, we can do nothing,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of aligning the university’s educational programs with labour market needs:

“We will continue to be partners of the STEM industry and encourage its development by providing up-to-date knowledge and skills, and today on the table is Croatian engineering and computer science, which I believe is an area in which we are recognized.”

State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, Iva Ivanković, called this model “a major step forward,” emphasizing that “investment in education is an investment that always pays off,” while highlighting equal access to education as one of the ministry’s key strategic goals.

foto HINA/ Zvonko KUCELIN