Failure to pay college fees may result in the registration of a debt to the finances, which may lead to a coercive charge and even the threat of attachment. Although the law provides that the main consequence for the student is the annulment of academic acts, in some cases universities resort to the tax authority to recover the missing amounts, plus interest.
According to information obtained by, this situation has raised doubts, especially since Decree-Law No. 42/2019 of 21 June establishes that the only consequence for non-payment of tuition fees must be the non-recognition of academic acts. However, some higher education institutions advance with collection processes, leading to the application of tax measures for debt recovery.
Although this decree-law seems to indicate that the only sanction for the student is the nullity of academic acts, experts in tax law clarify that this interpretation is not absolute. Supervisory Samuel Fernandes de Almeida explained to the polygraph that “the bribe is a fee and can be charged.” He also added that the mentioned standard “not relevant at the equity level”, that is, does not prevent the debt from being charged by tax. Thus, there is a difference between academic consequences and financial consequences for the student.
The Ministry of Education, in turn, clarified that the regulation of the bribes is the responsibility of each higher education institution, since they enjoy administrative autonomy. Therefore, collection rules may vary between universities and polytechnics. In addition, at the time of enrollment, the student formally compromises the payment of the annual bribe, and may choose to pay phased, if the institution offers this possibility.
Also, according to the Ministry of Education, most institutions do not reimburse all the amount of the bribe in case of withdrawal, and the percentage returned depends on the moment the student formalizes his departure. In addition, universities have the right to resort to the tax authority to charge amounts in debt, which may result in the coercive and eventual seizure of assets if necessary.
Thus, it is confirmed that, at academic level, the only impact of non-payment of the fees is the annulment of academic acts. However, this does not mean that debt ceases to exist. At the fiscal level, the university may require the payment of the debt bribes, using legal mechanisms for this purpose.
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