Resolutions
On the higher education policy initiatives of the new federal government
Resolution passed by the 127th Senate of the HRK, 24 June 2014
The Senate of the German Rectors' Conference, the HRK, welcomes the fact that the parties in the federal government have regained the autonomy of the government in the area of education and research policy with the compromise of 26 May 2014 on the future structure of education funding. At the same time, the Senate of the HRK urges those responsible in the federal government and the federal states
1. to agree without delay to lift the ban on cooperation in the form of a modification to article 91b GG (Basic Law);
2. to ensure without delay that the funds released from the federal states' budgets by the stronger commitment of the federal government to BAföG funding and the non-university research institutions to improve the basic funding of the higher education institutions;
3. to show clearly the extent to which the federal states are providing the higher education institutions with additional funding to improve basic funding now that they are no longer required to provide BAföG funding;
4. to agree without delay sustainable financing to cover the costs of university places in line with the forecast by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) on numbers of first year students;
5. to pass without delay the gradual increase in programme allowances for research projects – as in the resolution passed by the Senate of the HRK on 18.06.2013 – and their financing by the federal government and the federal states;
6. in order to secure the success hitherto regarding the international attractiveness, visibility and competitiveness of the German higher education system, to develop without delay the funding of excellence in research and teaching at higher education institutions by making the previous financing more dynamic;
7. to continue to guarantee the legally protected freedom of career choice for those entitled to attend a higher education institution with sufficient funding of higher education institutions.
