ELIA'S New Inclusive Fee Structure

ELIA President, Andrea B. Braidt announces a new tiered fee structure which will take effect in 2021.

To mark ELIA’s 30th Anniversary, it is my pleasure as ELIA President to announce to you a new initiative that will make ELIA membership more inclusive than ever before in the future.

Valuing openness, inclusivity and equal opportunity, we strive to offer our members a welcoming space which encourages active engagement and knowledge exchange, regardless of how large or small your institution is. With this in mind, we want to enable institutions greater access to our community, independent of the economic situation in their country. Institutions in lower-income countries have told us that the cost of membership is often beyond their financial means. At the moment, the country where your institution is located does not factor into the equation.

Building on the strength of a growing network and values to which we have held true for 30 years, the Representative Board and ELIA Team decided to create a change. We initiated a thorough evaluation of the current system, looking for ways to improve our membership pricing system. Our goal was to make it more accessible and thereby allowing ELIA to be a truly representative network for all higher arts education institutions in Europe and beyond.

What does this mean in practice? At the moment, ELIA has six membership fee categories, all of which are based on the number of students in the arts enrolled in the institution, plus a flat fee for associate institutions. Our evaluation’s findings showed that although our membership fee offers value and takes into consideration the diversity of sizes between our institutions, it does not look at the differing economies of countries.

ELIA’s new membership pricing structure will include five categories all of which will also relate to the purchasing power in each country. This new fee system becomes, therefore, a matrix based on two main variables: the number of students enrolled, and the strength of the national economy in which the institution is based.

ELIA inspires and enables professionals at every level in the field of higher arts education to improve their practice and create a real impact. This can be a reality in any country and not just in the economically advantaged parts of the world. With ELIA’s new membership system, we hope to welcome many new members from less-wealthy countries and grow into a more inclusive and diverse community.

The new pricing booklet explains in more detail how the matrix works and how it was developed. In the next days, the ELIA team will inform you about what the system means specifically for your institution. Some of you will pay less, some of you will pay a more, and together we will find a new balance. We are counting on your support!

Together with the Executive Group, I will present the new system to members on 24 November, 2020 at the General Assembly, which will take place online. In the meantime, the ELIA team and the Representative Board are available to answer any questions you might have. Thank you!

For more information on how your institution can become an ELIA member go to: JOIN US