Federal Minister Polaschek: Increase in FH funding rates by 10% from January 2024

2023-11-11 05:00:39

BM Polaschek and FHK President Prommer present the early distribution of FH funding from January 2024

Vienna (OTS) – In the coming year 2024, 500 million euros more will be available for science and research. These additional funds benefit both universities and technical colleges. Universities of applied sciences play a central role as the second essential pillar of the higher education system. The technical colleges have a clear focus on labor market-oriented and practical training at university level and are therefore particularly important in combating the shortage of skilled workers.

“We will increase the FH budget for 2024 by 95.8 million euros. The FH funding rates will increase by 10% and will be increased from January and not in October as originally planned. In doing so, we are meeting a central requirement of the universities of applied sciences. The universities of applied sciences therefore have a stable financial foundation for the coming year. “On this basis they will be able to continue their important work,” explains Federal Minister Martin Polaschek.

This means that the technical college sector has a total of 480 million euros available for 2024. This is a further increase in the funding rates for federally financed university places by 10 percent – now the third increase in a row!

“We are pleased that in joint discussions we have now finalized the increase in funding rates by 10% from January 1, 2024. The costs of inflation can thus be offset and teaching operations can continue with the usual high quality. This increase is an important signal from Federal Minister Polaschek that he has taken on board the concerns of the universities of applied sciences and was prepared to take decisive action. We would like to thank Federal Minister Polaschek for this!” said FHK President Ulrike Prommer.

This increase was originally planned in the FH plan 2023/24 – 2025/26 from October 1, 2024, as Federal Minister Martin Polaschek announced at a press conference last week. After further intensive negotiations, the Federal Minister and FHK President Prommer have now announced that the funding can be distributed as early as January 2024.

The increase responds to an urgent concern of the universities of applied sciences, which need a funding rate increase from January 1, 2024 to compensate for inflation and maintain the quality of the study offerings.

This is part of the planned expansion of the technical college by 2026, as provided for in the technical college development and financing plan 2023/24 to 2025/26 (FH-EF plan). A particular focus was placed on the MINT subjects. In total there will be 1,050 new, federally funded study places in the future fields of MINT.

“With the early entry into force of the financing, we are massively strengthening our existing universities of applied sciences and their locations and ensuring that they receive appropriate compensation in times of rising prices,” says Federal Minister Polaschek happily.