topic Academia

Higher Education Pact for more university entrants

Institutions of higher education in Germany are facing great challenges. The number of young people qualified to enter university is set to increase significantly by 2020. At the same time, international competition demands that universities put a greater emphasis on research. In order to maintain the performance of institutions of higher education and give more new entrants access to university, the Federal Government and the Länder have agreed on the Higher Education Pact 2020.

Pillar 1: Programme for the admission of additional university entrants

Increases for the Higher Education Pact - initiative for an additional 300,000 university entrants

With the Higher Education Pact 2020, the Federal Government and the Länder want to invest additional funds to expand study opportunities, thereby providing a suitable solution to the increasing demand for higher education. This is the central conclusion reached at the meeting of the Joint Science Conference (GWK) in April 2013. The final decision will be made the Federal Chancellor and leaders of the Länder Governments on 13 June 2013.

The Federal Government intends to increase funds for the Higher Education Pact 2020 to a total of over 7 billion euros between 2011 and 2015 - an increase of 2.2 billion euros. The Länder will also contribute comparable additional funds to secure the total finances. To complete the second phase of the Pact, an additional 2.7 billion euros of Federal funding is planned until 2018. This is 1.7 billion euros more than previously stipulated. In times when finances are tight, this decision of the Federal Government and the Länder demonstrates a clear commitment to education and research in Germany.

According to projections published by the KMK in January 2012, around 300 000 more university entrants that previously predicted are expected in the second programme phase of the Higher Education Pact 2020 between 2011 and 2015. Consequently, the Federal Government and the Länder now want to finance an additional 625,000 university entrants in this time period. This is twice as many as originally stipulated in 2009. Institutions of higher education are thus receiving a clear signal to initiate the steps necessary to expand study opportunities. The additional study opportunities ensure that students in our country, as well as interested students from abroad, are able to pursue their desired courses of study.

With the Higher Education Pact 2020, the Federal Government and the Länder had already begun to react to the increasing number of university entrants following the double "Abitur" year by enabling a need-oriented expansion of study opportunities. In previous years, they have adjusted the Pact to meet actual developments (most recently in 2011 with compensation for the results of the elimination of mandatory military or civil service) and made additional funds available. The Higher Education Pact is to run until 2020.

Pillar 2: Programme allowances for projects funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Providing one-off payments for research projects supported by the DFG is sustainably strengthening university research and increasing universities' ability to develop new strategies. Previously, universities had to cover addition indirect cost for successful external projects out of their own financial resources. Now they receive an additional lump sum of 20 per cent of the project cost, while still maintaining room to maneuver. This important instrument for higher education funding has also been extended for five years. As before, the financing costs incurred are to be entirely covered by the Federal Government: about 1.7 billion euros by 2015.

Second programme phase from 2011 to 2015 agreed

On 4 June 2009, the heads of the Federal Government and the Länder agreed on a continuation of the Higher Education Pact. According to the draft agreement, the Pact - which is designed to run until 2020 - is being extended for a second phase until the end of 2015. It includes a programme for the admission of new university entrants and a programme for the provision of one-off payments for research projects supported by the DFG (overhead).

1. Programme for the admission of new university entrants:

With the Higher Education Pact, the Federal Government and the Länder have created a demand-based solution for dealing with the 275,000 additional university entrants expected between 2011 and 2015. In the second programme phase, the costs per additional university entrant will increase from 22,000 euros to 26,000 euros, of which the Federal Government will provide 13,000 euros. The Länder will take on general funding responsibility. This means that in the second programme phase, there will be an additional 4000 euros available per student (compared to the first programme phase). This increase is also intended as a contribution towards improving teaching quality. The Länder will also take on responsibility for expanding the so-called MINT subjects and for promoting equal opportunities for women.

The second programme phase of the Higher Education Pact will continue to take the special situations of the city-states and the new Länder into account.

• The new Länder, which - according to the KMK's prognoses - are expecting a decline in the number of new entrants by 63,000 between 2011 and 2015, will continue to receive lump sums from the Federal Government and the Länder to enable them to maintain their capacities and reduce the strain on West German Länder (excluding the city-states of Hamburg and Bremen). The Federal Government will provide an additional 179 million euros for this purpose. The West German Länder (except Hamburg and Bremen) will pass on five percent of the Federal Government funds they receive from the Higher Education Pact to the new Länder. In addition, the reference thresholds for the new Länder, which were previously based on the number of new entrants in 2005, have been lowered. All new university entrants above the new threshold will be taken into account in the allocation of Federal Government funds. The new Länder have agreed to maintain their student capacities in the subject of medicine despite demographic developments.
• The reference thresholds for Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen have been lowered. All new university entrants above this new threshold will be taken into account when allocating Federal Government funds.
  
  The Federal Government funds will be provided in the form of pre-payments; the accounting will then be carried out on the basis of the number of additional students admitted. This will give the Länder planning certainty. At the same time, it will ensure that the Federal Government's funds are actually spent on the universities where a larger number of young people take up their studies.

2. One-off payments

German universities need to make a bigger international name for themselves as research institutions. They must enhance their research intensity and excellence despite the challenges posed by the increasing number of students. This challenge is addressed through the second pillar of the Higher Education Pact: the provision of one-off payments (overhead).

As in the Higher Education Pact I, the Federal Government will fund 100 percent of the one-off payments for research projects supported by the DFG, which will amount to 20 per cent of the project costs. This will make an additional 1.7 billion euros available to universities. After an evaluation at the end of 2013, this special funding will be reviewed with the aim of introducing a joint financing of the one-off payments by the Federal Government and the Länder that is better suited to the DFG.