Hessian universities warn of the financial crisis: one billion euros are missing!

Hessian universities warn of the financial crisis: one billion euros are missing!

Marburg, Deutschland - The Hessian universities are faced with a significant financial challenge: according to uni-marburg.de Forecast billions of euros in the next six years. As part of the university package for 2026 to 2031, the state government is planning a budget design that will increase the personnel costs annually by over 60 million euros from 2026, while at the same time the funds for 2026 and 2027 should decrease below the level of 2025. This leads to a worrying situation, since universities expect an annual deficit forecast of around 167 million euros, which corresponds to about ten percent of the total personnel budget.

Minister of Science Timon Gremmels has presented concrete figures that further heat up the concerns of the universities. From 2028, the funds of the country should increase, but an initially existing gap in household compensation is feared. The permanent reduction of ten percent of personnel in science, art and administration is a worrying consequence that could also result in negative long -term consequences for the educational landscape in Hesse. The universities therefore call for improvements in university pact planning to ensure their competitiveness and functionality.

Details on the Hessian university pact

The Hessian University Pact, which has been negotiated with 14 universities every five years since 2002, provides comprehensive financial regulations. Science.hessen.de describes that the pact includes essential components such as the basic budget, the success budget and funds for the quality of studies and teaching (QSL medium). These different sources of income should help ensure that the universities are sufficiently financed to perform their tasks.

The new base budget, which summarizes all financial resources, will increase by four percent annually, while the co -financing of the federal funds of the future contract is also to be increased by the same amount. Theoretically, this could benefit the universities, but the foreseeable funds are not sufficient to compensate for the increasing costs. Universities thus fear the uncontrolled degradation of areas in research and teaching.

financial challenges of universities in Germany

The location of the university financing is not only precarious in Hessen. According to bildungsserver.de , numerous university rectors report on profound problems and the continued underfunding since the 1970s. The increasing number of students by 2025 are an additional challenge that goes hand in hand with high expenses and pressure to convert the financing models.

An outcry from the university community therefore does not fail to materialize. The universities, represented by people like Prof. Dr. Thomas Nauss, warn that the current financial framework does not meet the requirements and goals of a modern university system. A key point paper that is handed over to the Ministry of Science should contain concrete proposals to improve the financing and the associated framework conditions.