While Freie Universität Berlin does have reserve funds, using them to bridge the financial gap in the short term is problematic. For example, these reserves are used to pay the pension contributions for civil servants (the responsibility for which lies with the university according to state law). They are not simply a rainy-day fund – they have also been deliberately put aside for long-term construction and renovation projects.

For decades, Freie Universität has put aside funds for important and much-needed investments such as:

• Renovating buildings
• Modernizing technical infrastructure
• Improving the university’s climate footprint (e.g., the installation of solar panels) and digitization efforts (e.g., safeguarding basic IT operations)
• Advancing strategic developments such as new degree programs or research clusters

In the majority of cases, these reserve funds are legally/administratively tied to specific projects, meaning that they cannot be used for other purposes. If Freie Universität were to make use of these funds regardless, this would mean:

Sacrificing long-term security for short-term gain.

If Freie Universität makes use of its reserve funds to mitigate the immediate effects of the budget cuts, it runs the risk of creating even more problems for itself in the long term. The State of Berlin is planning the creation of a Hochschulbaugesellschaft (building society for universities) as a potential solution to this issue. This specialist building society or credit union would provide universities with loans that can be used for construction and renovation work. It is, however, unclear who would ultimately be responsible for financing such an operation. Until there is more clarity surrounding the issue, this makes it hard to rely upon a Hochschulbaugesellschaft as a realistic solution. Freie Universität will be keeping a close eye on this and other options, and will provide more information as soon as it becomes available.