Clas Hättestrand: An unexpected upward adjustment – but more is needed

A couple of weeks ago, the Government presented its budget for 2025, which was reported in the previous newsletter. As far as universities and colleges are concerned, the changes in the budget were mostly already known. Among other things, a general reduction is being made in the funding cap for most higher education institutions, in order to free up funds for future investments in STEM education – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These programmes are also being strengthened by increasing the compensation per full-time student by about 5 percent. This is of course both gratifying and much needed, but it should be noted that the appropriations within the central government are generally being increased in light of a relatively high price and salary increase next year, 3.43 percent, due to the high inflation in recent years. Moreover, the extra compensation only applies to full-time students (registered students) and not annual performance equivalents (students who are also taking their credits). This means that the total extra increase in compensation for full-time students and annual performance equivalents in the field of science and technology combined (in addition to the price and salary recalculation) is thus a modest 0.88 percent.

More surprising, but equally gratifying, is that the compensation for education in the humanities, social sciences, and law is also being increased. Here, the compensation for annual performance equivalents is being increased by nearly 8 percent. If we also exclude the price and salary recalculation and take into account both full-time students and annual performance equivalents, the real additional increase in compensation for the education is a somewhat more modest 1.79 percent. Of course, that sounds less impressive than 8 percent, but it’s still good.

Regardless of the size of the increases, it is of course a good thing that the compensation levels for a large portion of our education are being raised, even in real terms. It actually feels like we’ve been heard. Throughout my time as Vice President, people in my sector have pointed out to the Government and its ministries, in every conceivable context, that one of the greatest threats to higher education today is the eroded levels of compensation. This erosion means that even if we get a price and salary recalculation every year, it does not cover the actual cost increases over time. This is known as the “productivity deduction”, and is due to the fact that government institutions are expected to continuously streamline their operations, which leads to a gap of 1–2 percent each year between the appropriation increases and the price and salary increases. This applies to all government agencies, but the effects are particularly evident in higher education, in which the salary of instructing teachers is by far the largest cost. For indeed, it is difficult to cut teaching time year after year without the quality of education ultimately suffering.

So, against this background, it is very valuable that an actual addition is now taking place, so that we have more resources per student. It should be borne in mind, however, that the erosion of compensation levels has been going on since 1993, when the current resource allocation system came into force, and only a few, less substantial increases have taken place since then. That means we have a lot of catching up to do. Still, we can be pleased about this step in the right direction, and the Government has also promised that the increase will continue in the coming years, as well. So, the future looks a bit brighter!

This text is written by Clas Hättestrand, Vice President. It appears in the section “Words from the University’s senior management team”, where the management take turns to write about topical issues. The section appears in News for staff.