Enora Bennetot Pruvot, Thomas Estermann, Valentina Lisi – EUA Public Funding Observatory Report 2018, EUA 2019.

The European University Association (EUA) has recently published its latest Public Funding Observatory Report 2018, providing an overview on 33 higher education (HE) systems in Europe, covering funding trends until 2017 and offering a temporary perspective for 2018/2019. The report revolves around three main axes: sustained growing funding; sustained declining patterns; and improving patterns.

The report presents some key findings, including that:

• out of 16 systems with high funding, only 6 have a funding growth that exceeds student enrolment growth;
• nine countries fail to re-invest in universities even though positive GDP growth suggests it was possible;
• 8 countries showed improving patterns, but for half of them the effort was too limited;
• 17 systems had lower levels of funding, with five experiencing an increase in the number of students enrolled.

The study shows that, since the 2008 financial crisis, the gap between HE systems that increase investment and those that decrease public funding is widening.

The information contained in the report can also be accessed via an online interactive tool.

EUA Report

More information here.