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The Supervisory Board has approved Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ's budget for 2025. This budget has been prepared at a time when higher education in the Netherlands is facing severe cuts from the government.

The university has to cut 35 million euros in 2025. With government measures still to come, this could rise further to 70-80 million euros in 2029. Despite the agreement on the OCW budget , the cuts to science education and research remain huge. The UU budget remains unchanged. When final figures arrive from OCW, more information will follow.

Remaining future-proof

In 2025, the focus is on strengthening our core activities and maintaining quality despite financial pressures. We are also working on strategies to keep our university financially future-proof in the long term.

Despite difficult choices, the budget offers room to continue investing in education, research and the support of our students and staff. Examples include implementing the updated Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Educational Model (Solis-id required) and further harmonising and digitising work processes. 

After approval of the budget by the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Council on 9 December, the Supervisory Board has now also approved the budget.

Uncertainty about plans from The Hague

The UU budget was drafted and approved during a period of uncertainty about plans from The Hague. Educational institutions and large corporations, among others, have spoken out strongly against the cuts, with protests and active lobbying, including from UU (in Dutch) and other universities.

Looking ahead and being prepared

Besides uncertainty about the OCW budget, the annual ‘reference estimate’ estimating the number of students is likely to lead to a lower contribution from The Hague. There are also autonomous cost increases. With the prospect of future challenges, the Executive Board has entered challenging tasks in the UU budget to achieve, also to avoid heavier interventions later on. The new year will see how and when adjustments will be made to the UU budget. The draft 2026 financial framework, which the CvB will issue in spring 2025, will incorporate the insights known then.

Want to know more?

Students and staff will be kept informed of developments via UU-wide information and their own UU department. Want to know more about the UU budget process? Check out this information on how the UU budget is drawn up (Solis-id required).