Study of the tuition and living expenses of medieval European university students.

The history of daily university life is increasingly garnering the attention of contemporary scholars. This paper focuses on providing a general estimate of the total expenses of a medieval European university student, as well as the proportions of each major expense item. Generally speaking, at medieval European universities, the various expenses for room and board, obtaining a degree, and tuition accounted for the majority of university student expenditures, while the high annual registration fees that students at modern universities pay at the start of term were nearly negligible in the medieval era. Furthermore, the expenses of university students varied by era, region, major, and social class. Universities often collected fees on the principle of wealth differentiation, thus allowing both rich and poor students access to approximately equal educational opportunities. Donations and financial assistance by religious and secular leaders and the wealthy also contributed to the students’ completion of a university education. It is clear that the overall reduction of fees was not the only path to allow poor students to enter university and complete their studies: this could also be achieved by mitigating some portion of the fees, or exempting poor students altogether. However, in medieval Europe, the costs of attending university were generally quite high, and the majority of university students were the scions of a wealthy minority. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]