According to the European University Association’s latest report on public funding, out of 21 higher education systems, 15 boosted public investments over 1% in 2017, with Hungary and Iceland recording the fastest increases at 29.6% and 11.1%, respectively.

In real terms, the largest investments in universities were made in Turkey, Austria, Luxembourg, Croatia and Iceland, jumping 18%, 8%, 8%, 7% and 7%, respectively. Alternatively, the most significant cuts in investments to higher education institutes took place in Greece, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, where funding decreased 16%, 9% and 6%, respectively. In Northern and Central European countries, such as Finland and Hungary, there were certain signs of recovering public investment in universities, in accordance with the European Commission’s Winter 2017 Forecast, which expects the economies of EU Member States to continue growing in 2018.

Countries that had years of nominal, negative or flat growth, such as Scandinavia, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, are making amends to get public university funding back on track, while countries such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland are continuing to prioritize university investments.

Long-term research funding is forecast to grow in countries such as Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia, with research infrastructure funding projected to increase in Cyprus, Spain and Hungary.

Source: European University Association