Additional funds for 2018 and 2019 ensure further development of the academic sector and guarantee innovation, international focus, and competitiveness
The Entrepreneurial School® in Innsbruck expresses its delight with the government’s clear commitment to developing the academic sector.
The numbers announced in yesterday’s budget speech by Federal Minister of Finance, Hartwig Löger, bode well for the development of the higher education sector: the government has pledged to increase the expenditure on university of applied sciences by 41 million euros in 2018 and 2019. For a long time, there has been an ongoing debate concerning the reduction of funding for study places. With this budget increase, also the 7.8 million euros required to prevent the funding cut have been secured. Moreover, an additional 25 million euros have been allocated to creating 450 more study places in promising fields of study. “Our study programs and research services are in high demand. They ensure that Austria, as a location for business, can maintain its innovative power, international standing, and competitive edge,” MCI Rector Andreas Altmann is convinced.
In addition to the university of applied sciences sector, traditional universities will also benefit from a considerable amount of additional funding and more scope of action: “Science Minister Heinz Faßmann kept his word. The new budget resolution signals a promising future, strengthens the Austrian higher education sector in the face of international competition, and creates interesting opportunities for cooperation,” Altmann concludes.
