The additional costs assumed by universities are nothing new. For Philippe Augé, president of the University of Montpellier, this amounts to unbearable amounts.
“The University of Montpellier's own resources represent around 25% of the budget. It is not the most precarious,” begins its president Philippe Augé. 80% of resources come from the State, which makes the university very dependent, “the essence of a public service mission”.
Out of an annual budget of €500 million, €336 million is dedicated to payroll. A budget whose allocation methods are poorly understood, “it’s very opaque, it’s a bit sketchy“. According to him, university management which is based on the ratio per student or per researcher is no longer really relevant.
Additional costs not compensated
Decrease in public funding, increase in operating costs or contributions to the Special Allocation Account intended for the civil servants' pension scheme (CAS Pensions), “sans compensation”, etc., according to AEF Info, 60 universities in France would be in deficit in 2024.
All anticipate the budgetary emergency in 2025, as is the case for Paul Valéry University, through the words of its president Anne Fraïsse. “If nothing is done, I will propose a budget with a deficit of €12 million. This means that I will not be able to pay the salaries of civil servants in December 2025. We would have to start the year with €4.5 million, there we are at 0″, declared this Tuesday, the president, after having gone, with around thirty others, to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to express her anger against the draft budget for 2025.
A revolt in which Philippe Augé was unable to participate, taken by his obligations. But the heart was there.
“We’re going into the wall!”
As with other establishments, a threat of paralysis hangs over the UM. Will we have to stop lighting common areas, restrict the use of elevators, and other penny-pinching savings? “As of December 31, our working capital will be 30 days, or €30 million in reserves, knowing that we are paying €28 million in payroll. At this rate, we are in the wall in 4 years, if anything. that we can continue with our own resources linked to our numerous projects”details the general director of services, Bruno Fabre.
“The working capital of universities is not a war chest,” adds Philippe Augé, but “the result of sound management which allows us to carry out large-scale projects and to shine internationally. Now that's enough! For several years we have been responsible for a series of uncompensated measures.
We managed it as best we could, but today, the money that our projects produce is used to pay for measures announced with great fanfare at the top of the State.”
In the viewfinder, without questioning their merits, “Guerini index measurements”(revaluation of the index point of public employees to 5 points in 2024) “representing a charge of €7 million”and other measures such as the sustainable mobility package, the teleworking allowance, which amount to €3 million. Added to this calculation is the increase in the cost of fluids, “2 M€”CAS Pensions contributions for €5 million. “In total, we are therefore already at €17 million for the 2025 budget. In 2024, it was €12 million. Forcing us to draw on our working capital to degrade it would lead to total asphyxiation of the university!”
According to him, there is, in the long term, no doubt about the impact of these deficits on the quality of teaching and research and on access to education. It would also mark a weakness in the territorial network, “Nîmes, Béziers, Perpignan, Sète, Mende, Carcassonne”, he lists, and the democratization of higher education. “The university must remain this social elevator.”
The fear of dropping out
Welcoming people in difficulty, taking care of mental health, managing very expensive historical heritage, “Alright”, he admits, but the color of a financial envelope is still missing.
“How can we remain attractive if we do not give ourselves the means? By stopping the renovation of buildings, research, the training offer? How can we remain among the 200 best universities in the world in the general Shanghai ranking?” continues Bruno Fabre, for whom “we cannot ask for everything and its opposite”.
It is up to those in power to correct the situation so that universities are not forced to make regrettable choices. “This would mark the decline of our system.” Until dropping out.
