Econ Monitoring Presentation

7/30/2019 Econ Monitoring Presentation

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The impact of the economic crisis on

higher education in Europe

EUA Funding Forum11-12 June 2012

Salzburg

Enora Bennetot PruvotProgramme Manager

Governance, Autonomy and Funding Unit

European University Association


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Overview

Methodology

Overall picture (2008-2012)

Impact on the universities activities

Tuition fees & student support

Key messages

To tweet, please use: #FundingForum


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Methodology

Monitoring carried out by EUA Secretariat in

cooperation with National Rectors Conferences

Since 2008 regular updates

Year-on-year evolution of public funding for

universities (research and teaching)

Expectations and outlook

Trends in terms of tuition fees


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Identifying the impact of the crisison the universities activities:

Infrastructures / investments

StaffStudent support

Student services

Academic offer


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Overall picture 2008-2012

Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands,Portugal, Spain


Cuts > 10 %

Croatia, Estonia

Croatia, EstoniaCuts up to 10 %

Belgium (nl & fr)Finland

Belgium (nl & fr)Finland

Stable budget

Austria, France, Germany, SwitzerlandPoland, SlovakiaDenmark, Norway, Sweden


Funding increased


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The red cases



Cuts > 10 %

Different situations:

Latvia: affected early and hard (08-10: 57% cut) nowstabilising

Lithuania with a record -26.20% in 2012

Portugal: downward trend from 2011, with 22% cut in

2012 compared to 2011

Netherlands and Ireland have higher HE expenditure butcontinue to struggle with cuts in the range of 5-10%


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The orange cases

Croatia, Estonia

Croatia, EstoniaCuts up to 10 %

Croatia: descending staircase with cuts up to 5%between 2008 and 2010, then stable in 2011, further 5%cuts in 2012, and stable outlook. Cuts mainly linked tosalaries & benefits, hiring freeze and infrastructure.

Estonia: on its way to recovery? After substantial cuts inthe initial period, the budget has stabilised and evenincreased in 2012. However research funds have notreturned to pre-crisis levels.


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The yellow cases

Belgium (nl & fr)FinlandBelgium (nl & fr)Finland

Stable budget

Belgium: variations in HE budget remain small, with aninsufficient adjustement to inflation (BE-nl). The ongoingreform of the state involves the transfer of competences inthe field to the regions and communities, hence uncertaintyas to what to expect.

Finland: The major university reform of 2010 hamperscomparisons over the period. Minor increases do notcompensate inflation.


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The green casesAustria, France, Germany, SwitzerlandPoland, SlovakiaDenmark, Norway, Sweden


Increased funding

Austria, Germany: expectations of further increases, althoughmore in terms of competitive funding in Germany. In Austria, the

billion for higher education spreads from 2013 to 2015.

France: increases between 2007 and 2010 as part of the generaluniversity reform, but much of the commitments are made underthe form of endowments.

Denmark, Sweden: some increases but situation varies amongteaching, research, staff, infrastructures.

Poland, Slovakia: positive trends but inflation cancels out part ofthe increase in Poland; in 2011 Slovakia cut significantly in capitalexpenditure.


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Impact per area

Teaching funding

Increases in funding for education in absolute figures are often due torising numbers of students. However funding per student is oftenstagnating or decreasing (example: DK, DE, IS, IE, NO).

Research funding Increase in BE (nl), DE (through targeted and competitive funding),

SE

Decrease in HR, DK, EE (partially offset via EU research/structuralfunds), IE (indicative 10% cut announced for 2013), NL (abolition ofthe fund for economic structural reinforcement)

Infrastructures / capital spending

Notable cuts in Croatia, Ireland; in Slovakia, this is the main area thatsuffered cuts. Capital spending for research in England has beensubstantially cut.


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Impact per areaStaffing policy Hiring, salary freezes and redundancies, for instance in Croatia and

Ireland

Limited entry to new academic staff (Spain)

May affect salaries as well as benefits

May result in increased workloads with more teaching hours (example:Spain)

Academic offer and teaching Generally, worse staff/student ratio as a result of higher student

numbers and limited/stagnant staff intake

Rationalisation of academic offer: closure of degree programmes forwhich demand is considered too low (Spain)

Reduced library and contact hours


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Key messagesDivergent trends in funding could lead to major divisions acrossEurope in terms of levels of public investment in HE

Worrying signs that many countries in eastern and southernEurope more affected than many in northern and western Europe(although there are notable exceptions).

Threat of increased brain drain as staff & students leave thesesystems

European funding programmes need to cover costs on a full costbasis to avoid decrease in participation of these universities.

Impact on European Research and Higher Education Areas andinternational scientific collaboration

Investment in higher education and research needs to bemaintained and increased in order to help European countries outof the economic crisis.


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THANK YOU!

For more information please contact:

[email protected]

Follow on twitter

@EUAtweets

@EnoraPruvot

Tweet during the event:

#FundingForum

Documents

Econ Monitoring Presentation