UvA Budget 2026: red figures loom once again
The UvA’s budget cycle for the coming calendar year has already begun, which means that faculties and services must start working on their budgets for next year. Several faculties are currently in the red and must therefore seek additional funding to balance their budgets.
Just before his departure, Vice-President Jan Lintsen was able to finalise the so-called Framework Letter. This contains the preliminary calculations that the UvA provides to all departments and faculties, which they can use to draw up their budgets for the coming calendar year. It shows that four faculties will be in the red next year if they do not manage to generate more income or cut costs.
These are the faculties of Humanities (FGw), Law (FdR), Science (FNWI) and Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG). FGw and FNWI in particular are facing substantial deficits in 2026, of 3.0 million and 4.2 million respectively.
Together, the seven faculties will have a deficit of 11 million next year, including 2.6 million that has not yet been allocated. The combined faculties will also show significant deficits in 2027 and 2028: 12.6 million in 2027 and 11.0 million in 2028. Incidentally, neither the faculties nor the services and administrative staff will be allowed to use any “extra room” out of their reserves to balance the budget next year. After 2026, however, there will be “room” to use reserves.
Interim year
The UvA sees 2026 as an interim year on the road to the budget cuts, the effects of which will mainly be felt from 2027 onwards. In addition, a new strategic Institutional Plan (IP), which is currently being developed, will come into effect in 2027.
The fall of the cabinet has not (yet) been included in the Framework Letter, but the UvA assumes that from 2027 onwards, “new cuts” could lead to a shrinking budget. This mainly concerns the Internationalisation in Balance Act (Wib), which could cost the UvA “tens of millions of euros” in income. Given the caretaker status of the cabinet, it is highly questionable whether this act will actually be passed. Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on the topics that will be declared controversial; there is a chance that the Wib will also be designated as such, in which case there will be no vote on it before the elections on 29 October.
Three hundred euros
The UvA assumes that salaries will increase by three percent as of 1 July 2025. There is no certainty about this yet; the unions are aiming for 7 percent. Clarity on this will be provided at the end of this month. For next year, the UvA assumes that salaries will increase by another 4 percent on 1 July 2026.
As for housing costs, there will most likely be a different strategic assessment of the Accommodation Plan. The UvA expects demand for accommodation to decrease in the coming years, partly due to a decline in international student numbers, but also because of hybrid (working from home) working arrangements. In order to maintain rental income and prevent departments from renting cheaper accommodation outside the UvA, the internal rental price (the rent that departments have to pay to the UvA) will be frozen at €300 per square metre from 2027 onwards.
Ten million
The Central Student Council and the Central Works Council have the right to jointly agree to the “main points” of the budget. They will vote on this jointly in the so-called Joint Meeting (GV). The GV’s consideration of the budget regularly takes much longer than planned because the term “main points” is interpreted (too) broadly, which means that the entire approval process takes so long that the new budget year has already started, as was the case last year.
An evaluation of the approval process by the GV and the UvA has further established that the “main points” concern changes in the allocation of resources (the so-called allocation model), financial scope for strategic policy and major investments. The criterion is that a budget item must amount to at least ten million euros to be included in the main points of the budget. The intention is that the budget can be submitted to the GV in October, after which the Supervisory Board of the UvA can approve the budget around Christmas.
