Last week, as part of the proceedings for determining the Hessian Higher Education Pact for the period from 2026 to 2031, the Hessian Minister of Science Timon Gremmels presented the first concrete numbers for the higher education budget to university leadership. Although the 14 state universities will face permanent increases in personnel costs of over 60 million euro per year in 2026, the budget for 2026 and 2027 is set to fall below the 2025 level during the transition to the new Higher Education Pact. The planned average annual increases of 2.12 percent per year compared to 2025, which will be scheduled to gradually take effect from 2028 onwards, will not offset this shortfall. Even if future wage agreements and inflation prove to be moderate in scope, Hessian universities are expecting a funding deficit of around one billion euro by the end of the Higher Education Pact in 2031. This equals a yearly deficit of around 167 million euro, or around ten percent of the universities’ personnel budgets. Since state funds will only be made available from 2028 whereas the increased costs will come into effect immediately, there is a time gap in the budget balance. This will make it more difficult for individual universities to ensure their liquidity under their own power.
Inadequate Funding for Universities
The planned measures do not reflect the coalition agreement of the state government, which emphasized “adequate and sustainable funding” for Hesse’s higher education system. For the sake of the state’s future, education should be a first priority.
“Even if we entered this new pact phase with no prior burden and could simply assume a continuously increasing budget, an average annual increase of 2.12 percent does not come close to offsetting the expected rise of personnel and administrative costs; it can only be regarded as a structural cut,” explains Professor Thomas Nauss, spokesperson for the conference for Hessian university leadership. “This cut has long-term implications: it threatens the ability of universities to conduct research, teaching, and outreach far beyond 2031.”
Universities Fear Unstructured Consolidation in Research and Teaching
“The structural cut means that key, vital services for Hesse will be suspended,” adds Professor Karim Khakzar, spokesperson for Hessian Universities of Applied Science (HAW Hessen). “Even if universities immediately and completely stop hiring, thus risking a random and unstructured consolidation process, they still run the danger of structural deficits. In a situation like this, our goal of preserving and improving the functionality of Hesse’s higher education system is unattainable. There is a fear that individual research or teaching areas will have to be discontinued and staff cutbacks actively pursued.”
Professor Elmar Fulda, spokesperson for Hesse’s art colleges, adds: “The state government actually wants things to take off economically – but where is Hesse meant to find the trained, creative minds that can make that happen if not at its own universities and colleges? This planned contraction will have direct consequences for science and the arts, for teacher training, and for the entire range of disciplines, including the humanities, cultural and social sciences, natural and engineering sciences, life sciences, and medicine. This isn’t the way to secure skilled workers for the future.”
In the 2025 financial year, Hesse’s universities have already achieved a third of the state’s target saving goal by providing construction reserves amounting to 475 million euro. As such, the universities have demonstrated their responsibility and commitment to the state. They remain ready to look for possible solutions together with the state government to surmount the economic dip without harming the higher education system.
“Hesse’s universities demand the preservation of the long-term functionality and competitiveness of the state’s higher education system and, as such, the safeguarding of Hesse as a beacon of science and creativity,” summarize the three spokespersons. “The universities in Hesse are expecting significant improvements to the planning of the Further Education Pact, both in terms of cost-neutral changes that serve the universities’ interests and targeted financial improvements.” To this end, the heads of the 14 universities in Hesse will be submitting a key issue paper to the Ministry of Science.
Publisher: Marburg University Communications Department
Editing: Dr. Gabriele Neumann
Tel: 06421 28-23010
Fax: 06421 28-28903
E-mail: pressestelle@uni-marburg.de
Marburg, June 10, 2025
