The government is failing the student unions in the 2025 budget

The image is AI generated.

This morning, the government and the support party Sweden Democrats presented their budget proposal for 2025. It is the third state budget of the term and after a period of high inflation, it is the first budget when Sweden's economy is on the way to recovery, which according to many gives greater scope for investment. 

Here we have collected the budget changes that have the greatest impact on Sweden's students.

Cutback affects student unions

Av last year's budget bill stated that the government wants to reduce the support for student influence by SEK 20 million. The financing is taken from allocation 2:67, which today totals SEK 71 million, of which the vast majority relates to student influence. Also in this year's bill, a cut of SEK 20 million is calculated starting in 2026, and the allocation will then remain at the same low level in 2027. 

This is a betrayal of the students and risks severely hampering the student unions' ability to carry out their statutory mission of student supervision. SFS will work hard to stop the cut. 

The resource allocation system must be investigated

The government announces that they will appoint an investigation into the resource allocation system. The purpose is stated to be "to develop management towards priority areas and review the resource allocation system for education at universities and colleges to enable increased efficiency in the resource distribution system while protecting the autonomy and resources of the higher education institutions". The investigation must also take a closer look at public authority capital and submit proposals that can "improve follow-up and control of public authority capital".

SFS agrees that the resource allocation system needs to be reviewed and reformed, it is something we have been working on for a long time. We want to emphasize that the changes that must take place are that the compensation amounts need to be increased, the performance-based part (full-year performance, HPR) removed or reduced, as well as opening up to allow the universities to redistribute funds between education and research. On the other hand, it is worrying if the government intends to increase governance towards certain areas of education - it is something that we believe the universities should take responsibility for based on student demand and other needs in society. We look forward to meeting with the inquiry once it has been added, to ensure that it is characterized by the students' perspective. 

Redistribution and reduction of ceiling amounts

The government announces that there will be a redistribution of certain higher education institutions' ceiling amounts in order to "strengthen the driving forces for a high-quality educational offer to provide the labor market with the skills needed in e.g. the STEM field”. In the bill, most of the ceiling amounts are therefore reduced, but these amounts must be distributed to certain higher education institutions later on. It makes it more difficult for the higher education institutions to plan their activities in the long term and strengthen the quality of education.

It is not clear on what grounds the redistribution takes place. The initial reduction varies between universities. Among the state institutions of higher education, only the Norwegian Defense University receives an increased grant. Even the individual education provider, the Stockholm School of Economics, receives more money to provide business with skills in the social sciences. 

At the same time, several previous investments expire, which also means that resources are reduced. In total, the ceiling amounts will be reduced by approximately SEK 217 million (adjusted with the government's own index), of which SEK 100 million will be distributed going forward. However, the difference means a substantial reduction overall.

Increased price tags for certain courses

All benefits are calculated using an index that follows inflation to a certain extent. In this year's budget proposal, this means a general increase of 3,43 percent per student. In fixed values, however, it is a reduction of approximately 1 percent, as the higher education institutions' costs are estimated to increase by approximately 4,5 percent. This is because the indexation automatically deducts 1,59 percent of the higher education institutions' personnel costs with reference to an "efficiency improvement" (the productivity deduction).

Some areas of education, however, see major changes to the compensation amounts. This applies to natural science, technical and pharmaceutical educations, NTF, where the increase amounts to 5,04 percent per full-year student. This also applies to students in the humanities, theology, law and social sciences, HSTJ, where there is an increase of 7,97 percent per year's performance (HPR, which corresponds to the number of completed higher education credits). Even if more general increases were actually needed, this is a welcome addition!

Table 1: Change in compensation amount per full-year student (HST) and full-year performance (HPR) between 2024 and 2025.

How much the increase in HPR in the HSTJ area becomes in cash depends on the throughput in the respective subject. In practice, the increase is highest in law and lowest in theology.

Table 2: Change in funding per student in certain areas of education as a result of increased HPR compensation 

The increase in compensation amounts for NTF can certainly be linked to the government's continued focus on STEM education. The government has already started work on a STEM strategy, and announces in the budget bill that they also intend to establish a STEM delegation. 

Research

Already in advance had the government announced an investment in research and innovation that will amount to SEK 1,5 billion in 2025 and will then increase further: SEK 2,5 billion in 2026, SEK 4 billion in 2027 and just over SEK 6,5 billion in 2028. The investments will be specified in more detail in the research bill which to be presented later this year. For the curious, SFS has previously written one record to the research bill. 

The investment for 2025 takes place entirely in the form of external funds to be distributed by government research financiers. The imbalance between base appropriations and external funds is thus further strengthened. In the budget bill, the grants for the Swedish Research Council and Space Research and Space Activities linked to the research bill increase. The biggest increase is for the Swedish Research Council, with SEK 595 million in 2025, and then SEK 995 million in 2026 and SEK 1 million in 591. SFS sees positively that there is an investment in research, but continues to call for a unified approach to research and education, two tasks that go hand in hand. 

CSN and study funds

The government must review the student support system. The review applies to the study support system as a whole, with the exception of adjustment study support, student aid and other minor support. The study support system has not been reviewed since it was introduced in its current form in 2001, and the starting point for the review is that the study funds must be adapted to today's and future educational and labor market needs. With the review, the government wants to streamline recruitment for studies, review the starting points for when new educations should give the right to study support, increase throughput and at the same time protect students' safety and take into account indebtedness. 

SFS has proposed that the government reviews the student aid system with a comprehensive approach and therefore welcomes the government's initiative. Above all, questions about students' housing costs, costs linked to education based on activities, VFU, the total number of study grant weeks, as well as the possibility of part-time sick leave should be included in the inquiry's mandate.

The grant to the Central Student Support Board, CSN, will be increased by SEK 50 million in 2025 for the processing of the transition study support, which began to be phased in from 2023. This takes place against the background that the processing of the transition study support has been criticized for taking a long time.

With the increase in the price base amount, the study funds for 2025 increase by a total of SEK 344 per four weeks. The student grant is increased by SEK 104 and the student loan is increased by SEK 240. It is an automatic calculation that is done every year, and thus not a special investment. 

Housing allowance

Students with children and students up to the age of 29 may be entitled to housing allowance. Currently, families with children can also receive an additional allowance. However, the government announces that the additional allowance for families with children will be phased out in 2025, something that is problematic because it affects students with children who often have strained finances already today.

One piece of good news is that the government confirms its plans to introduce a monthly assessment of the housing allowance, instead of doing the needs assessment annually, as it is now. A monthly assessment would reduce the risk of being liable for repayment and encourage more students to apply for the grant. However, the budget bill does not include a complete legislative amendment, and the government will need to come back later.

Reduced grants to UKÄ

The university chancellor's office, UKÄ, will receive reduced grants starting in 2025. The reason is stated to be to increase efficiency, and that the government assesses that UKÄ has the opportunity to carry out its tasks with slightly reduced resources. The grant will be reduced by SEK 4 million in 2025, and for 2026 and 2027 the grant is estimated to decrease by SEK 9 million each year.

Final reflection

We primarily see that the pursued policy will lead to deterioration for Sweden's students. As a small glimmer of light in the darkness, there are, however, proposals for future investigations that in the long run can benefit students both in terms of educational quality and a better study aid system.

The student unions are the main guarantor of a high-quality education. The government must rethink the funding of the student unions. In the long term, it favors high quality education, which is needed for innovation, growth and prosperity.