Universities, national budget cuts and the European Higher Education Area

On 22 February the EUA will present a more detailed report on its findings, which vary throughout Europe. The main reason for the different ways in which education systems are affected is the varying impact of the crisis on national economies.

Download a copy of EUA's overview (58 kB)

The EUA has identified six main categories:

1. Major cuts (e.g. Latvia, Italy and the United Kingdom);
2. Cuts of between 5 and 10%: Ireland, Iceland, Estonia, Romania and Lithuania;
3. Cuts of up to 5% (e.g. Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia);
4. No direct cuts or minor cuts (the Nordics, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland);
5. Governments who have reneged on previous commitments to increase funding (e.g. Hungary, Belgium, Austria and Spain);
6. Governments who have upheld their commitments: France, Germany and Portugal;

Situation in the Netherlands

First of all, I'm not quite sure whether students and universities in the Netherlands will agree with the statement that there are 'no direct cuts or minor cuts' in Dutch higher education. The Dutch government has announced several measures regarding higher education.

These include:

• higher tuition fees for students who study more than one year extra than necessary to finish their bachelor or master;
• financial sanctions for the universities where these students are enrolled.

In the coming weeks there will be several students and staff protests against the budget cuts. Overall, however, I think it would be realistic to put the Netherlands somewhere between the United Kingdom, with its major cuts and Germany where money is being invested.
 

Effects of budget cuts

The EUA analysis of the effects of the budget cuts at system and institutional level shows that university teaching is, in general, more affected than research. In the Netherlands, Spain and Austria it's the other way round.

In some countries the decreased funding has led to:

• pay freezes for lecturers;
• more crowded classrooms;
• staff shortages.

With regard to funding, the EUA sees a shift towards more private funding, financed by students themselves, and a decrease in contributions of industry and philanthropic and other foundations.
 

Impact on European Higher Education Area

The EUA has not analyzed the consequences for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) as a whole, at least not in its short overview of findings. Looking at the diversity of the consequences of the crisis on higher education across Europe I was wondering what the impact will be on the role and future of the EHEA It seems likely that when all parts of a system change, the system (EHEA) will change as well. But in what direction?

At this point it is hard to tell, because there are too many important and interacting factors. It is, for example, impossible to predict what the effects will be on student mobility within Europe. What will happen once the EHEA really becomes one higher education area? Will the students from overcrowded classes in countries with large budget cuts move to universities in countries like France and Germany, whose governments recently invested in higher education? Is it possible to maintain national autonomy on higher education while strengthening the role of the European Higher Education Area?