EUA has published a comprehensive new report on the financial sustainability of European universities.

This report underlines that universities need both sufficient resources, and a long-term planning horizon to invest in their future academic and research activities, and thus to continue fulfilling their role in society. EUA believes that future financial sustainability depends on reliable, sufficient public funding, and on the autonomy and support necessary to explore successfully complementary funding options.

The report gives a detailed description of how European universities are currently financed, and looks into the sector’s expectations for future evolutions. It also analyses the many different barriers currently preventing universities from pursuing additional income streams (considering internal challenges and external regulatory barriers) and the possible drivers for stimulating ‘income diversification’. Importantly, the study reveals that additional funding sources cannot replace sufficient public funding. It concludes with a series of recommendations for creating more sustainable funding models for the future.

Keywords

analysis · business case · EUA · EUDIS · financial sustainability · funders · higher education · income structure · leadership · policy · public authorities · research