The UvA has to cut around 36 million euros in 2025. It varies per faculty/service unit how much. In addition, we need to prepare for further cuts in the coming years. In the coming months, for instance, it will become clear how the cuts in international education will be implemented. The Balanced Internationalisation bill and its language test will play an important role in this. You can read the draft budget here.

The discontinuation of the start-up and incentive grants has been incorporated in the draft budget. The other cuts that the Schoof administration will implement from 2026 onwards have not yet been incorporated in the multi-year budget. The UvA will receive limited new funding for workload and talent policy. These have also been incorporated. 

The UvA opposes the national government's cuts. The cuts are bad for academics and research in the Netherlands and Amsterdam, for our students, staff and partners. Together with other universities, we are therefore lobbying strongly. Actions have been announced by WOinActie and LSVB. The UvA gives students and employees the space to take action against the cuts and offers support where necessary.

The UvA is a financially healthy organisation. However, the cutbacks announced by the cabinet combined with increased personnel and accommodation costs are so substantial that all faculties and service units have to make cuts.  

Each faculty/service unit will decide how to make cuts. In addition, a broad approach has been drawn up to save 20 million euros on operational management over the next years. There is also a savings opportunity in the area of accommodation. A new strategic housing plan will be drawn up for this in the coming months.  

The budget process for 2025 is in full swing. The draft budget has been published on 9 October. You can comment on the draft budget during the consultation period (until 24 October 2024). The entire draft budget will be submitted to the Central Works Council and Central Student Council for advice. The approval period on the main points of the budget runs until 27 November 2024.  The results will be taken into account when the final budget is drawn up in November. Approval on the final budget by the Executive Board is scheduled for 19 December 2024. Read more about the budget process.

Measures regarding language

• Assessment of Non-Dutch Language Education
  Is more than a third of the credits within a Bachelor’s programme taught in a language other than Dutch? If those cases, an evaluation will take place to determine whether it is necessary to offer existing or new programmes in a language other than Dutch. The minister aims to ensure that Dutch becomes the standard language for Bachelor’s programmes once again. It is still unclear when this will take place. The government wants to start this process nine months after the law comes into effect.
• Promoting Dutch language proficiency among Dutch and international students
  Universities were already required to promote Dutch language proficiency among Dutch students. The new law would expand this obligation to include all students, encompassing language proficiency in Dutch in a broad sense. This can occur both within and outside the curriculum.

Measures regarding numerus fixus

• Cap on a track
  One of the instruments in the new law is already in effect: a cap on a single (non-Dutch) track within a programme. This allows the number of places in one track to be limited, while the other (Dutch-language) track of the programme remains accessible. Studielink will have this new option available at the earliest for admissions in the 2026-2027 academic year.
• Fixus as a last resort
  If a programme suddenly experiences a surge in enrolments and the quality of education suffers as a result, the programme can implement an emergency cap (fixus).
• Maximum number of places for students from outside Europe
  If there are limited places in a programme, the bill allows for a maximum number of places for students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This measure ensures there will always be enough places for Dutch and European students.

Measures concerning autonomy and control

The bill provides the Minister of Education, Culture, and Science with the ability to personally intervene in the language of instruction of a programme as an ultimate measure.

More information for UvA staff about the Balanced internationalisation bill

As of March 2024, the UvA has adopted the following measures:

Improving Dutch language proficiency among staff

The UvA is mapping out options to expand language education for international staff.

• No new non-Dutch bachelor’s programmes
  Until the new legislation takes effect, we will not develop any new non-Dutch bachelor’s programmes
• Introducing a Dutch-language track to English-taught bachelor’s programmes
  Several of the UvA’s non-Dutch bachelor’s programmes are exploring the feasibility of offering a Dutch-language track alongside the existing non-Dutch variant.
• Introducing a numerus fixus on English-taught tracks
  Several UvA bachelor’s programmes aim to implement a numerus fixus on their non-Dutch tracks, as soon as it is possible, if enrolments still exceed the available places.

More information for UvA staff about the Balanced internationalisation bill

The way in which cuts will be made varies per organisational unit. You will be informed about this via your own faculty/service unit.  

It is important that the transition from a time with startup and incentive grants to a time without them is done properly. Based on a UvA-wide policy framework, faculties will be asked to adopt a transition policy, striking a good balance between meeting the scholarship obligations and the broader ambitions of the faculties.   

The UvA is reserving 5 million euros in the budget in 2025 and 2.5 million euros per year from 2026-2028 for this transition policy.   

In the coming months, it will become clear how the cuts in international education will be implemented. The Balanced internationalisation bill and its language test will play an important role in this. It is expected that the cutbacks in combination with the Balanced internationalisation bill will eventually cause a sharp drop in international students. In anticipation of this, the government has already announced that it will reduce the state contribution for international students from 2026.  

The coalition agreement of the cabinet states that tuition fees will be increased by 3,000 euros for full-time students who take longer than 1 year extra to complete their Bachelor's or Master's programme. In the coming months, it will become clear how the cabinet intends to introduce this long-term study fine. Ahead of this, the cabinet has already announced that it will reduce the state contribution for long-time students from 2026. It is therefore expected that the cabinet wants to introduce the fine from 2026-2027. The UvA opposes the introduction of the long-term study fine. 

You will receive general information about the cuts and upcoming actions via the UvA website uva.nl/budgetcuts and the UvA newsletter. You will receive information about the cutbacks within your own faculty/department via your faculty/service unit. 

You can contact your manager or the director of operations of your faculty/service unit for questions about the budget cuts. General questions about the 2025 draft budget can be sent to financienencontrol@uva.nl until 24 October 2024.