Education must absorb part of inflation costs itself

Universities will have to cover part of the inflation costs themselves. Apart from that, there are no new cuts to higher education and research in the 2026 national budget.

Inflation drives up prices, and in principle, government spending rises accordingly. But not next year. The outgoing VVD and BBB cabinet aims to make general spending cuts and allocate less money to the so-called ‘price adjustment’.

Outgoing minister Eelco Heinen (VVD) informed the House of Representatives of this on Tuesday when presenting the Budget Memorandum. Parliament will debate the new national budget tomorrow.

Reducing the price adjustment is not unusual. In 2025, half of it will be withheld to balance the budget. For the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, this amounts to 171.6 million euros (half of 343.2 million euros).

The amount for 2026 will be announced in the Spring Memorandum. Withholding the price adjustment has long-term effects: it leaves institutions financially behind, and they only catch up once politicians decide on additional funding.

'Incomprehensible'

The Association of Universities of Applied Sciences is disappointed with the announced cut via the price adjustment. “With today’s and tomorrow’s labour market in mind, we should be investing in higher professional education now”, says chair Maurice Limmen.

Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) also criticises the cabinet’s course. The additional cut is expected to cost universities 25 million euros, according to a statement, on top of other cuts amounting to around 300 million euros per year. “It is incomprehensible that this cabinet continues to cut spending on knowledge and innovation, while these are essential to keep our country safe, resilient and healthy”, says chair Caspar van den Berg.

The previously announced cuts of more than one billion euros to education and research are still in the budget; nothing has changed there. The only exception is the ‘equal opportunities scheme’ in secondary education. As promised (and leaked), that will remain in place.

International students

The cabinet wants to save 168 million euros by reducing the number of international students. But fewer students are already coming to the Netherlands than expected. The savings target has almost been met. In 2026, universities of applied sciences will only need to cut back by 1.9 million euros, and research universities by 4.1 million euros. That adds up to six million euros.

In total, education spending will eventually fall by about three billion euros, which is only partly due to the roughly one billion euros in cuts. The rest is due to the expected decline in pupil and student numbers.