University of Malaga receives less funding per student than almost all of Andalucía

The University of Malaga (UMA) is towards the bottom of the pack for university funding in Spain's Andalucía region, only ahead of the University of Almeria. Data prepared by the Junta de Andalucía regional government for the academic year 2023/24 reveal that the average funding per student per academic year at the UMA was 6,267.25 euros, while the average for the nine Andalusian public universities is 6,945.45, almost 700 euros more.

According to the Junta's own report, the Andalusian public university that receives the most money per student is Cordoba, with 7,931.41 euros per student, followed by the University of Huelva (7,655.58), Granada (7,291.31), Seville (7,040.09), Jaen (7,000.39), Cadiz (6,641), Pablo de Olavide (6,495.58) and behind Malaga, Almeria (6,186.06).

The UMA has asked the Junta to "resolve the unknowns" of the application of the funding model for Andalusian universities and has criticised the current "unequal" model. It has highlighted that the UMA "is in a particularly unfavourable situation".

In a statement, firstly, the UMA pointed out that the Andalusian Public Universities Association (AUPA) has valued as "a very positive step the increase of 16 million euros in funding, announced for 2025 and confirmed in 2026. However, it is still to be determined how this amount will be distributed among the different universities, as well as the destination of the 1,726 million euros allocated in the budget of the Andalusian regional government for 2025 in university matters," said the UMA.

In a statement the UMA pointed out "that the Andalusian public universities have already advanced financially part of the commitments arising from the so-called Jaén Agreements, relating to new tranches of regional allowances for teaching, research, technical, management, administration and services staff. These amounts will have to be added to the university resources for 2025 and confirmed for future years.

The UMA stressed that "the current application of the funding model affects institutions unequally and our university is in a particularly unfavourable situation". It goes on to say, "As we have been pointing out, the UMA suffers a significant underfunding with respect to the rest of Andalusian public universities."

The application of the Jaén Agreements and a "fair and stable" funding model for 2025 and 2026 can no longer be postponed. They also demanded "the elimination of the glaring inequalities between universities in terms of funding per student".

"The figure would rise to almost 60 million euros if we were to receive the funding per student that the best-treated university in the current model gets," the UMA added.

"From the University of Malaga we reiterate our commitment to the defence of the Andalusian public university and we are sure that institutional loyalty will guide the decisions to be taken for the benefit of the equal rights of students," the statement concluded.