The academic year runs from July 1 to June 30, so it’s not really New Year’s in the academic world for a while yet. But for anyone who occasionally visits outside of academia, where the “regular” Gregorian calendar is a thing, the end of December is still a time for reflection! What has really happened in the academic world in 2025?
New Minister of Higher Education again
In 2024, Mats Persson left as Minister of Education and was replaced by the Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson. But that arrangement did not last very long. In June, Johan Pehrson left and Lotta Edholm took over responsibility for higher education and research. In less than two years, we have had three cabinet ministers with responsibility for higher education.
Previously, Lotta Edholms had been primarily associated with school issues. With only one year left in her term, she was to take on a new policy area, complete several reforms and appoint investigations that have already been promised and that the entire sector is impatiently awaiting. So far, only one major investigation has been appointed, and the investigations into a new form of association, a modernized student aid system and a new resource allocation system have been put on hold, even though it has been over a year since they were announced.
New members
SFS continues to grow! Despite the difficult times facing many student unions, we have grown with four new member unions in 2025. In May, SFSFUM decided to grant three student unions admission: SöderS – Södertörn University Student Union, Linköpings Teknologers Student Union, LinTek, and Skogshögskolan Student Union. During the autumn, the Pharmaceutical Student Union submitted a membership application, and has been granted interim membership while waiting for SFSFUM to decide on full membership in 2026.
The national student movement is growing, despite the government cutting funding for student unions. It is a statement of strength and gives new impetus as we enter 2026!
The government did not back down on cuts to student influence
Back in 2023, the government announced that the state grant to student unions would be reduced from 1 January 2026. Since then, SFS has worked hard to stop the reduction. But in September, when the government presented its budget bill for 2026, it was clear that they stand by their decision.
This will be a hard blow to Sweden's student unions. For many, a significant portion of their income will be lost. Staff will have to be laid off.
SFS thought it was shameful, and issued strong criticism against the Liberals. Liberal students took offense when the parent party was criticized, and thought that SFS should be silenced completely. It was a strong case in point, we thought. We enter 2026 knowing that the Liberals neither stand for student influence nor core academic values.
The governing parties blame each other for the reduction. Both the Christian Democrats and the Moderates have since said that they want to strengthen the funding of student unions in the long term. Also several of the opposition parties have proposed that support be strengthenedSo even though the situation right now feels dark, we enter 2026 with some hope that our persistent work will soon bear fruit, and that the student unions' funding can still be strengthened again in the not too distant future.
Reform of education for professionals
In May, investigator Stephen Hwang presented his report A special reimbursement model for transition training and further training for professionals, which proposes special funding for short university courses for professionals. But already a few weeks earlier, SFS had the privilege of recording a podcast episode with Stephen and learn everything about what the investigation proposes.
The inquiry has been out for consultation and the government has subsequently announced that they intend to proceed with the reform. The issue has been a topic of debate for several years, and even though the work is not completely finished, it seems that the reform is starting to take hold. Unfortunately, we must say so. SFS has been critical of the inquiry's proposal to break out courses for professionals from the regular system. This creates a more complicated and fragmented educational landscape. The government should instead focus on reforming the entire financing system, and ensuring that all students receive a sufficiently funded education.
Reform of teacher training
With only a few days left in the year, the government announced the news that The reform of teacher training is now being implemented. SFS is critical, for several reasons. It is an issue that is probably more about signaling school policy than a genuine interest in strengthening higher education. Admission requirements are being raised, which makes the entire admissions system more chaotic. The detailed control of teacher education programs is increasing even more. But the compensation amounts per student at least look like they are being increased, which is still something of a glimmer of hope.
Political control of literature lists
Most universities and colleges are government agencies, much like the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Swedish Tax Agency. This means, among other things, that the government issues regulatory letters every year that govern what activities the higher education institutions should conduct. In the general regulatory letter, which is issued in addition to the individual regulatory letter each higher education institution has, the government introduced a new requirement to promote the use of course literature. SFS is very critical of the change, which effectively means that the government is now poking around in the country's literature lists. It should be up to the higher education institutions to decide whether students should read books or scientific articles; and anything else is a restriction on academic freedom.
We look ahead
2025 is coming to an end and we are entering a new year. We are particularly looking forward to the members' meeting in Uppsala in February and SFSFUM in Skövde in May. In addition, an election campaign awaits, where we look forward to being a voice and pushing for the parties to raise higher education policy more before the election.
But now it's time to go out and toast the new year.
Happy New Year!