The federal government has informed Universities Austria that it plans to cut university budgets. The cut is to take the form of an unprecedented measure, namely not only a freeze on the current budget and a failure to compensate for cost increases. A full billion is to be cut from the current budget.

The starting point for the current performance agreement period 2025–2027 is 16.5 billion, including doctors’ salaries at university hospitals. Based on WIFO forecasts, the universities had conservatively calculated that there would be a requirement of 18 billion in the upcoming performance agreement period 2028–2030, merely to offset cost increases. Out of consideration for the serious state of the federal budget, the universities had refrained from making aggressive demands.

The federal government’s response is to cut university funding to 15.5 billion. This represents a reduction of six per cent compared to the baseline and a reduction of 2.5 billion, or 13.9 per cent, compared to the actual funding requirement.

“A declaration of bankruptcy by the federal government”

The government aims to save 2.5 billion euros in the 2027–28 budget. By comparison, the 2.5 billion euros in cuts to universities over three years is completely disproportionate. Universities account for four per cent of the total budget; cuts on this scale will have a devastating effect on them.

“This is a declaration of bankruptcy regarding the importance this federal government attaches to universities,” says uniko President Brigitte Hütter at a joint press conference with uniko Vice-President and Rector of MedUni Vienna Markus Müller, Rector of the University of Vienna Sebastian Schütze, and TU Wien Rector Jens Schneider. It is “sobering” and “disappointing”, said Hütter, to be confronted with such a breach of trust by this very government. “It has presented itself as a safe haven for academics fleeing Trump. Now Austria is not even a safe haven for its own universities.”

EU wants to double science budget, Austria cuts

Just as in the economy, reliability and long-term funding are prerequisites for success in science too. That is why planning security plays such a major role in the Universities Act. The Universities Act, and the autonomy of the universities, are a success story that many in Europe envy us for. The planned cuts are a particularly bitter blow to our track record of success so far, and it will take a long time to recover from them.

At EU level, attempts are currently being made to double the budget for science and research – or at least to increase it massively (from just under 100 to at least 175 billion) – in order to remain competitive. In the course of the budget briefing, uniko was told, word for word: “Science and research are not priorities for this federal government.”

Hütter: “If that is really the case, I can only say: then investment in the future, the training of skilled workers, the country’s competitiveness and innovative strength, as well as research into solving pressing problems such as climate change, are not priorities for this federal government.”

Impact of cuts in figures

On Tuesday, experts at the universities examined the federal government’s cutback plans and calculated what they would mean.

A shortfall of 2.5 billion in the 2028–2030 budget means an average shortfall of 800 million per year.

A few comparative figures:

• Tuition fees for all universities: just under 60 million (2024)
• Third-party funding for all universities: approx. 1 billion (2024)
• Staff costs for all universities (including third-party funding): approx. 4 billion (2024)

Funding shortfall affects early-career researchers and staff

A shortfall of 700 million euros per year would mean a reduction of around 20 per cent in staff numbers, meaning that one in five staff members could no longer be employed.

Question for policymakers: How are pay rises to be funded in future? Through redundancies? And how are the demanded permanent contracts for early-career researchers to be made possible?

Impact on the quality of education

The student-to-staff ratio is a fundamental prerequisite for high-quality education and is also assessed in several key rankings. In terms of “professors and equivalents”, the planned budget cut would mean a reduction of 1,000 full-time positions in total. The student-to-staff ratio would consequently rise from the current 1:34 to 1:42. This would run counter to the Ministry of Science’s targets in the Austrian Higher Education Plan 2030, which sets a target ratio of 1:35.

The funding shortfall affects the labour market

If the duration of studies is extended by an additional year, this has far-reaching consequences for the labour market and economic value creation. Graduates would consequently enter the labour market later, leading to a shortage of skilled workers.

In the winter semester of 2025 alone, this affects just under 40,000 graduates (= 40,000 person-years(!)), who, as a result of the extended duration of studies, would only be available to the labour market a year later.

Loss of the Austrian economy’s future viability and competitiveness

A de facto cut of 14% compared to the budget required to account for inflation affects not only the universities – it strikes at the very heart of Austria’s competitiveness as a hub for technology and business. Fewer university graduates – precisely when the economy and research need more, not less. Especially in new technologies such as AI or cybersecurity.

Collapse of university hospital care

The four university hospitals in Vienna, Graz, Linz and Innsbruck form the backbone of specialist medical care in Austria and are, in many cases, the only and final point of contact for serious and specialised conditions. The Vienna General Hospital (AKH) currently provides around a third of healthcare services in Vienna. Furthermore, the majority of Austria’s specialist doctors and medical graduates are trained at these four university hospitals. Cuts on the scale planned by the government would result in a collapse of university medical care and a massive reduction in the number of doctors in Austria.

Enquiries & Contact

Universities Austrian Universities (uniko)
Dr. Daniela Kittner
Telephone: +436641103665
Email: daniela.kittner@uniko.ac.at