University FinancingPlanning Certainty for the State's Universities
1 April 2020
Ruperto Carola Rector signs University Financing Agreement
"The conclusion of this agreement puts the financing of the universities of Baden-Württemberg on a solid foundation for the next five years. The certainty it affords for future planning creates an important basis for our ability to work and our competitiveness in research, teaching and transfer." Those were the words of Heidelberg University Rector Prof. Dr Bernhard Eitel on the occasion of the signing of the University Financing Agreement (HoFV II) with the State of Baden-Württemberg. The agreement establishes the financial framework for the years 2021 to 2025.
Among other things, the University Financing Agreement II provides for an annual three per cent increase in basic funding. Furthermore, the universities can now make the study places added in the last several years permanently available. The state will also continue to finance its portion of the successful Excellence Initiative projects and include it in the basic funding. Although not all concerns of the universities were addressed, the State Rectors’ Conference (LRK) welcomed the University Financing Agreement. Prof. Dr Stephan Dabbert, Rector of the University of Hohenheim, characterised the negotiations as intensive and tough in order to best serve the interests of students, teachers, and researchers. He succeeded Prof. Eitel as LRK President on 1 April 2020. According to the LRK, the fact that the country is demonstrating reliability by concluding the agreement, despite the financial burdens of the Corona crisis, is a sign of confidence.
Because the current situation prevented the rectors of the nine state universities from assembling for the signing, each one signed the agreement at their respective location at the beginning of the week, as did the heads of the other institutions of higher education in Baden-Württemberg. The agreement was also signed by Baden-Württemberg Minister of Science Theresia Bauer in Stuttgart this past Tuesday (31 March).