H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related PoliciesReturn

Public universities in the Czech Republic are financed mainly from the state budget. The number of students is still the main criterion for receiving funds. However, in the last three years, there have been significant changes which refer to qualitative requirements in response to the demographic development in the Czech Republic. In 2012, 20% of the resources from the state budget to cover current expenditures of public universities are allocated according to a set of qualitative indicators; examples include the research outputs of the universities, the qualification profile of their academic staff, the employability of their graduates, and the international mobility of their students. The article discusses the fundamentals of public university financing in the Czech Republic and conducts a comparative analysis with respect to the set of qualitative criteria used in the 2012 methodology. Particular attention has been paid to the comparative position of the University of Economics, Prague, and to the discussion of its strengths and weaknesses in terms of qualitative indicators.