April 07th 2014

The new Medical Faculty in Linz must not be funded at the expense of the universities of applied science

The MCI warns: Overdue inflation adjustment and promised increase to the number of student places are at risk!

It had to happen: In spite of all protestations to the contrary, the Medical Faculty in Linz is set to become the financial nail in the coffin of Austria’s universities of applied science. “There is no money,” is the standard response from the Ministry of Science, Research and Economics.

The reference is to money for the adjustment for inflation due since 2009 and money needed to increase the number of student places - measures which were unanimously approved by the Council of Ministers of the Austrian Federal Government and the Austrian University Conference and were promised with a flourish by the coalition parties before the general election, measures which are a definitive and guaranteed item in the government program announced by the Federal Government for the current legislative period.

“That is overstepping the mark,” says the MCI’s Rector Andreas Altmann. “The Federal Government cannot order services and then exit the back door to avoid paying. The Ministry of Finance must provide the Minister of Science with the funds needed for the agreed measures. It is not possible to reduce the number of places for students to compensate for inflation,” the Rector adds and he continues: “I trust in the word of Minister Mitterlehner, whom I esteem highly, and in the promises made by Michael Spindelegger as Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance and by Chancellor Werner Faymann.”

Out of a total allocation to science and the universities of 1.6 billion euros for the 2013-2018 legislative period, only 62 million euros are earmarked for the universities of applied science - a mere 3.8%. And yet Austria’s universities of applied science now account for …


“A solution is urgently required,” says the Rector in conclusion to his appeal to the Federal Government. “Otherwise we will fritter away our own future, undermine our competitive position and squander the trust placed in us.”

More information on the subject (in German)

Contact:
MCI Management Center Innsbruck
Mag. (FH) Ulrike Fuchs, Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Tel. +43 512 2070-1510, ulrike.fuchs@mci.edu
Dr. Andreas Altmann, Rektor, +43 512 2070-1050, andreas.altmann@mci.edu