Lisbon, Nov. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - The PS proposal to maintain the freeze on higher education tuition fees in 2026/2027 was confirmed on Wednesday by the opposition in plenary, while the PSD/CDS proposal to index the amount to inflation was rejected.
The PS proposal, which had been approved on the third day of voting on the details, was brought to the plenary vote this morning and again passed with the favourable votes of all parties except the PSD, CDS and IL.
The initiative of the governing parties, despite the appeals of Portugal's minister of parliamentary affairs in the debate preceding the vote, was also called and rejected after votes against by Chega, PS, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN and JPP and support from the PSD, CDS and Iniciativa Liberal benches.
The Socialists' proposal stipulates that tuition fees cannot exceed the amount set for the same cycle of studies in the 2025/2026 academic year, thus remaining at €697.
The government intended to unfreeze tuition fees from next year, with an increase to €710 for the maximum amount for bachelor's degrees.
Tuition fees marked this morning's debate, with the Government, through Portugal's minister of parliamentary affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim, criticising the opposition for approving an "artificial freeze".
In a request for clarification, Paula Santos, from the PCP, stated that tuition fees are, in fact, a way of blocking access to higher education and that the fact that there were fewer candidates should make the government question and reflect.
On the PS side, Miguel Costa Matos considered that the PSD and CDS proposal to index the increase in tuition fees to the inflation rate is a "disservice to the country and families". He said he did not understand why this measure was causing concern when "it only costs €2.6 million". "Is that why they want to penalise families?" he asked, pointing out that higher education institutions "are compensated by the freezing of tuition fees".
Mariana Mortágua, representing the BE, argued that "social justice is not achieved through charity", but "when the millionaire's son and the baker's son go to the same university, they pay the same and receive the same education, with the same quality" and accused the right of having a vision of social justice in which "the rich do not pay taxes and the majority of the people live on charity".
In response, the PSD's parliamentary leader considered that the Social Democrats' proposal is "a proposal that brings about social justice".
"We are talking about an increase in tuition fees of around double coffee per month," argued Hugo Soares, alluding to the €13 annual increase.
The deputy also criticised Chega for joining "the far left and the PS".
Centrist Paulo Núncio considered the AD's proposal "fair and appropriate" and that the PS's initiative "does not favour equity", while Rita Matias, from Chega, criticised the government for increasing politicians' salaries last year, but this year not having money for higher education.
On behalf of IL, Angélique Da Teresa pointed out that what "Chega and the PS are doing [by approving the tuition freeze] is spreading inequality and injustice".
"They are freezing tuition fees for the rich to make it harder for the poorest to access education," she added.
In turn, Livre MP Patrícia Gonçalves said that the PSD and CDS tried to deceive parliament and praised the opposition for taking "a clear step backwards". The sole PAN MP, Inês Sousa Real, accused the government of “radicalism” and of "not knowing the real country".
Filipe Sousa stressed that the JPP advocates "stability" and that "this means not increasing the burden on students".
The parties put forward other proposals for this morning's vote, such as a strategy for the inclusion of Roma communities from Livre, a public network of nurseries from the PCP, or the non-updating of environmental taxes from Chega. Still, none had a different outcome, being rejected again.
JMF/ADB // ADB.
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