The Union of Students from Romania criticizes the lack of dialogue shown by the government. Students also launch several proposals to mitigate the effects of austerity measures.
The students declare themselves disappointed by the lack of consultation with representative organizations in Education on the subject of the ministry’s budget for 2026 and interpret the presence of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan at the head of the Ministry of Education and Research as “an indication of the possibility of new austerity measures”.
The Union of Students from Romania criticized, in a press release, the fact that students were not invited to discussions on the Education budget.
“We believe that, despite all the press releases of the last few days, the Government refuses dialogue and ignores the demands of all relevant actors in the educational system. The negotiations held at the Victoria Palace raise big questions about the ministry’s budget, and the fact that Ilie Bolojan participated in them, both as prime minister and as interim minister, indicates to us that there is the possibility of significant cuts or the introduction of new austerity measures, which no possible candidate for the position of minister wants to undertake”. it is mentioned in the communication.
In 2025, the budget allocated to accommodation and dormitory subsidies decreased by 27%, compared to 2024, and basic university funding decreased by 31.25%, reports the Romanian Students’ Union, while the data for 2026 are uncertain. However, the decrease in the scholarship fund was by far the measure that affected students the most in 2026, and in order to prevent things from happening again, the federation of student associations launched 15 proposals for measures to mitigate the effect of the austerity measures already adopted.
Resetting the indicators and updating the standard/student cost
The students say that the Ministry of Education and Research must consider updating the standard cost per student with the inflation rate communicated by the INS to substantiate the basic funding for the year 2026.
I also ask for a reset of the indicators used for granting additional funding.
“In the context of additional funding and taking into account fiscal constraints, it is proposed to increase the weight of indicators from class C4 – Regional orientation and social equity, in relation to indicators from class C2 – Scientific research, artistic creation and sports performance. This adjustment aims at stimulating investments in university infrastructure, in particular increasing the number of places in student dormitories (IC 4.2), as well as encouraging universities to participate in the scholarship fund by allocating their own resources (IC 4.4). Regarding the C2 class, we propose to merge the IC 2.2 and IC 2.3 indicators into a single performance index. The proposal comes in the context of developing the quality of scientific research and encouraging academic performance. We believe that the division between impact and performance is an artificial one, which is why we want to provide clear criteria on the basis of which additional funding can be determined. At the same time, we propose to reduce the weight of IC 2.1 (human resource quality). In the context of austerity measures and considering the possible redundancies that universities will have to make, such a measure comes in Sthe support of university funding“, the press release states.
The scholarship fund – at least at the level of May 2025, plus the European money
A topic of particular importance to students is that of scholarships, after facing substantial cuts in 2025. The students propose maintaining the allocation from the national budget for the scholarship fund at least at the level of May 2025, to which the 60 million euros allocated by the European Commission should be added, a situation that will contribute to the significant improvement of the situation of social scholarships and will also allow the increase in the number and/or amount of performance scholarships, says the Romanian Students’ Union.
For the sums from the European Social Fund, however, there are no granting conditions until now, so the students demand the publication of the application rules so that the universities can access these funds, and the students can take possession of the money starting in February. “This measure is vital to guarantee the effective payment of social grants, to avoid further bureaucratic blockages”, it is shown in the press release.
Also related to the social grants, the Union of Students from Romania also proposes the introduction of a mechanism to ensure the annual update of the mandatory minimum amount of the social grant with the inflation rate. It is also requested that the substantiation note on the basis of which the amount of the social grant is determined be published, in order to ensure transparency and predictability. The students also demand that representative student federations be consulted when determining the mandatory minimum social grant amount.
The implementation of a mechanism to verify the degree of compliance with the methodological norms regarding the granting of scholarships and other forms of support from all accredited educational institutions is also requested.
The social scholarship, the students demand, must reach all eligible students, regardless of the form of financing (budget/fee), considering that today students from low-income families, who pay for their studies, are hit twice, because they most likely did not have the opportunity to support their additional training (meditations) so as to succeed in admission “on the budget”. The social scholarship should be granted throughout the year, the students also demand, considering that eligible students benefit from it as a result of their social or economic situation. “In this sense, we believe that they need predictability and permanent support from the state to avoid university dropout”says the Union of Students from Romania.
Another request is related to the inclusion of mandatory practical activities, by introducing clear methodological rules, in the calculation of the number of days related to the didactic activity to determine the amount of the scholarship, at this moment the days of mandatory practice are not counted as a didactic activity, which leads to a lower level of the scholarships.
Free rail transport and 24 journeys per year on any route
On the list of students’ demands are also measures related to the settlement of railway transport. On this date, students pay 10% of the ticket value when traveling from their hometown to college and from college to home and ask to benefit from free travel, a benefit they have had before. I also ask for 24 free journeys, annually, on any route, for domestic rail transport.
Two other proposals aim to expand the eligible categories for the “Carol I” grants by including all participants in the national and international stages of the school olympiads recognized by the Ministry of Education and Research, respectively the general increase in expenditure coefficients by reference to the annual inflation rate for the costs of accommodation and meal services offered by universities.
“If in the last year we talked about reform and received austerity, we believe that this year we must really focus on reforming the education system. To be clear, a functioning education system cannot be built without money. At the same time, a high-performing educational system is made through dialogue with those involved, not through meetings behind closed doors. The Union of Students from Romania remains faithful to the mission of representing the over 450,000 students in Romania and considers clear answers and actions from the authorities necessary”the students also specified. They demand meetings with the Prime Minister of Romania and the Ministers of Finance and Transport, respectively, to present their point of view regarding the allocations for Education in 2026.
