Following intense protests from medical students over a 200% tuition hike, Iran’s Azad University announced a conditional 50% tuition reduction—if students agree to a mandatory three-year service commitment after graduation. According to the state-run Kayhan, students accepted to medical, dental, and pharmacy programs for the 1403 academic year may access this reduction only by “pledging service in designated areas.”
Azad University’s policy has faced severe backlash from students, who have gathered in protests at university campuses and government buildings. Students argue that the university’s drastic fee hikes are unaffordable, and some have had to make extreme sacrifices to pay for their education.
IRIB News reported that Azad University claims the reduction aims to “support accepted students” while meeting the healthcare needs of underserved regions. However, students criticize forced service as coercive, as those unwilling to commit face prohibitively high fees. The university also announced it will withhold diplomas and transcripts until students complete the required service, effectively binding them to the terms.
The remarkable role undertaken by young women at the forefront of uprisings in schools and universities, which inspired the world, has evolved into a source of ceaseless apprehension for Khamenei and his IRGC. pic.twitter.com/48keXHaKKD These young women have showcased the…
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 23, 2023
This policy reflects the regime’s prioritization of oppressive measures and revenue generation over addressing Iran’s critical educational needs. The regime’s educational policies illustrate a broader trend of exploiting the public for self-preservation, disregarding the economic and professional futures of Iran’s youth.
For over four decades, the Iranian regime has systematically targeted universities as a means of maintaining control over intellectual spaces and stifling opposition. This strategy dates back to the 1980s with Khomeini’s so-called “Cultural Revolution,” during which universities were closed for three years to “Islamicize” the academic landscape. Thousands of students and professors who were seen as ideologically incompatible with the regime’s hardline rule were expelled, while new measures, such as the establishment of the Basij student militia, were introduced to surveil and suppress dissent on campus. The paramilitary Basij, integrated into university settings, remains a tool of the regime to this day, limiting student freedoms and intimidating those who oppose the clerical establishment.
In recent years, the regime has taken further steps to assert control, including the unprecedented move to admit foreign paramilitary forces, such as Iraq’s Hashd-al-Shaabi, into Iranian universities.
This controversial decision, defended by officials as a financial gain for the country, has raised alarm among students and faculty who see it as an attempt to militarize academia and erode the independence of educational institutions. Suspicion grows that while regime-loyal segments of society consistently receive quotas for higher education and special privileges in daily life and career paths, this latest policy may have political intentions beyond financial benefits—namely, to purge academia of dissenting voices and establish an environment aligned solely with the regime’s ideological agenda.