Financing Protest against State Plans for Financing Higher Education
8 November 2024
Universities oppose de facto cuts that would considerably endanger the Baden-Württemberg university system
“Knowledge is the beacon, yet the light is going out.” With this slogan the universities in Baden-Württemberg are opposing the state’s current plans for financing universities from 2026 to 2030. These plans are tantamount to cuts that would pose a considerable threat to the Baden-Württemberg university system. For this reason, the universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Hohenheim, Konstanz, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Tübingen and Ulm, along with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, have announced a protest week from 11 to 15 November 2024, ending with a demonstration in Stuttgart.
The plans for what is known as the 2026 to 2030 Higher Education Financing Agreement III so far foresee an annual rise in basic financing of 3.5 percent. 3.1 percent of that alone has to cover higher staff costs based on collective agreements. Only 0.4 percent of the funding rise will remain for all other running costs, for instance renovating or modernizing infrastructure. This contrasts strongly with the actual financial requirement of the universities, which will need about six percent more resources per year to balance out rising costs and inflation rates – 6.89 percent in 2022 and 5.90 percent in 2023.
Criticism focuses particularly on the fact that the universities are increasingly being forced to reallocate amounts from the basic finance for purposes like heating, operations and building infrastructure, although this should really be financed by the state. That way, funds intended for research and teaching are being misappropriated with the consequent negative impacts on universities’ quality of education and research capacity.
The protest week from 11 to 15 November aims to bring this threat to the Baden-Württemberg university system to the attention of university students and staff, as well as to the broad public. With actions and social media posts (#hofi-bw) the nine universities of the state will call on them to advocate for better financing. The protest week is supported by the University Rectorate Conference of Baden-Württemberg. The demonstration on 15 November is planned for the day on which the finance committee of the state parliament will be discussing the budget of the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts for 2025 and 2026. The demonstration starts at 12 noon at the Stadtgarten park near the University of Stuttgart. Heidelberg students will also take part.