The Austrian universities of applied sciences are once again calling for the urgently needed inflation adjustment of their own funding rates. "Both the development of the consumer price index and the collective wage index show a real loss in value of the UAS study place funding of five per cent since the last partial valorisation in 2016. We are calling for immediate compensation for the five per cent loss in value by increasing the funding rates, which corresponds to around 15.3 million euros and an annual index adjustment from 2020," says FHK President Ribitsch.

The universities of applied sciences offer a practical university education with maximum relevance to the labour market and manageable study times, making them the most important player in the Austrian higher education system in times of a shortage of skilled workers.

"The quasi-funding of Austrian universities was an important milestone in Austrian science policy. The complete overlooking of universities of applied sciences in terms of funding to maintain quality is primarily detrimental to the Austrian economy and young people and must be blamed directly on the federal government," said a concerned FHK President Ribitsch.

Since the universities of applied sciences were founded 25 years ago, the federal funding rates per study place have only been partially valorised twice. Depending on how you look at it, the real loss in value of federal funding is still between 32 (collective wage index) and 23 (consumer price index) per cent. In addition to the Provincial Governors' Conference, the demand for an urgently needed valorisation is understood and supported by almost all stakeholders in the university of applied sciences sector.