The French government has cut the research and higher education budget by €331 million ($378.0 million) to avoid going over the EU limit of 3% of GDP for the 10^th successive year. Although President Emmanuel Macron pledged to protect higher education budgets during his campaign, the proposed cuts are seemingly part of his administration’s plan to make €60 billion ($68.5 billion) worth of cuts in federal spending by 2022.

Research and higher education organizations in France are upset by the news of the cuts, with leaders stating that the decrease is equivalent to the annual salary of 5,500 researchers. The proposed drop is spread among various ministries, with the higher education, research and innovation ministry budget expected to be slashed by €180 million ($205.6 million). The education system in France is already having issues with enrolling new students, with almost 87,000 prospective students on a registration waitlist, and leaders in the education ministry are calling the timing and reality of the proposed cuts a “mess.”

Source: Science Business