Aarhus University takes over the special education support scheme, but criticises the conditions: “We feel run over”

For a long time, universities have wanted to take home the special educational support (SPS), which assists students with physical or mental disabilities. So far, the task has been put out to tender and, for most universities, has been handled by external providers. According to the universities, this has been a weakness, partly because resources have been spent on conducting tender processes and because universities believe they can provide better support than external providers. 

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has now seemingly listened. From 2027, universities will largely be responsible for providing SPS themselves, as stated in an agreement from May 2025 (in Danish) between the government and the majority of the parties in the Danish Parliament. But the ministry has only partially listened, if you ask Aarhus University. Indeed, universities take over the task under certain conditions that are very far from what they want and need. This is explained by Anna Bak Maigaard, deputy director of AU Student Administration and Services. AU received a letter from the ministry before the summer holidays with the announcement that universities will take over the SPS guidance from 1 January 2027. The letter was examined with great interest since AU wants to take over the task, but not regardless of the conditions, Anna Bak Maigaard emphasises.

“We’ve now become familiar with the terms and conditions, and it’s far from optimal. We are quite concerned about the quality we can deliver to our students,” she says. 

The ministry is making budget cuts

Anna Bak Maigaard elaborates that the universities wanted to take over the task and be released. According to her, the ministry is now letting universities take over the task partially, but at a lower financial framework and without being released. 

“The new model preserves the tight bureaucracy. We’re not released in the formats. We still have to report at a very detailed level and are limited in what forms of support we are allowed to provide. In addition, the Ministry is making significant budget cuts. It’s not our wish that savings are made here. When this happens, we at least want to be able to use the money wisely in a way that benefits the students in the best possible way,” Anna Bak Maigaard says. 

Financially, Anna Bak Maigaard cannot put a figure on it, but she emphasises that this is a “deterioration”.

Aarhus University wants to be able to allocate and administer the guidance itself and, for example, to be able to hire and organise study mentors, instead of having to do so through external providers. 

“We dream that we can offer a comprehensive support programme at the university, integrated into the student's learning environment and other support services,” Anna Bak Maigaard says.

She adds that AU is the only university to have previously won the SPS tendering procedure. At all other universities, students in need of SPS are currently receiving guidance from an external provider outside the university.

“So we have a good starting point at AU, which we can use as a basis for developing the SPS support. But that requires us to be freed from the very tight constraints that exist,” she says.

AU needs external help to find study mentors at its own university

There are a number of problems in what, according to AU, has been proposed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Anna Bak Maigaard explains. The ministry intends to merge three types of support - clarification, student support, and professional support - into one, which triggers the same rate. That, according to AU, will mean fewer resources for each SPS student and will affect the quality negatively. In addition, there are restrictions on how the support must be used. For example, collective support activities would in many cases be academically appropriate and at the same time make it possible to stretch the funding, but the funds may only be spent on individual offers. AU is against that.

Next, the National Agency for Quality and Supervision (STUK) continues to process students' applications for SPS once AU has assessed the student. This delays and aggravates the process, which means that many applicants are not granted funding until well into the semester, Anna Bak Maigaard says. If it were up to AU, the university itself would be allowed to process the applications and grant the support. AU supports this by pointing out that 98 percent of the applicants assessed by the university for support are also being granted support by STUK. 

Another problem is that the ministry only lets universities take back the task partially. The area of dyslexia, which AU would like to take back, is not covered. AU is also not allowed to find the study mentors hired to assist SPS students themselves. The study mentors, who are probably students at AU, must be hired through an external provider. External providers offer lower payment conditions than universities, and administrative resources must be spent on tenders. In addition, students receiving the support must deal with an external provider and the changes that a change in provider may bring. 

The fact that AU should have external help to find mentor students at its own university is “a strange and ineffective solution to something we can do better ourselves,” Anna Bak Maigaard says. 

Hoping for a better solution

Deputy Director Anna Bak Maigaard is surprised by the ministry's actions. 

“Professionally, it has been an eye-opener for me. We have been to many meetings with the ministry and the board and have really sought the dialogue. We've sat in on meetings where we felt they were listening. And then this comes out in a way where we haven't had an impact. There's an element of us feeling run over. But most of all, it’s about the students. They are the ones we speak for,” she says, adding:

“The ministry is acting as if it has been decided, and they are in the process of tendering. We still think at AU that this is the completely wrong way to go. We hope that we can find a better solution together with the ministry,” the deputy director says. 

Anna Bak Maigaard cannot guarantee that students in need of SPS will be able to receive the same help as before if the changes become a reality.

“Regardless of the framework, we at AU will strive to provide the best possible support for all our students. We're not out to degrade. But when we get less funding for the support, we have to figure out how we can provide it in the future,” she says. 

It looks like a savings agenda from the political side, Anna Bak Maigaard says. 

“We will have a lower financial framework to lift the SPS task. So there’s no doubt that there is also a savings agenda at stake,” she says.

In just four years, the number of students receiving SPS at the country's universities has almost doubled. In 2020, 5,103 students received SPS, while in 2024, it was 10,109 students. At AU's Counselling and Support Centre, which provides person-borne support, student numbers have grown by 94 percent from 2019 to 2024 for mental/neurological disabilities and by 60 percent from 2019 to 2024 for dyslexia.

Same criticism from KU

Largely identical criticism of the changes to the SPS scheme comes from the University of Copenhagen. Rie Snekkerup, deputy director of education at KU, tells Uniavisen that the agreement is a “gift we didn't quite want.” The University of Copenhagen informs the newspaper that in the future, the university will receive DKK 500 per hour of support, which is almost half of the original amount.

“This is not a savings exercise for us. But I'm afraid it is for the ministry. They transfer the task to us — and halve the payment,” says Rikke Snekkerup to Uniavisen.

The Student Council at Aarhus University is similarly sceptical. Chair Daniel Hjort thinks it sounds like the government wants to save money in the area. He considers it improper.  

“Of all the places where you can save money — as they do — SPS is one of the places you shouldn't do it at all. More students are coming in who really don't need to be lost here. They should have the opportunity to complete the training, just like the other students,” says Daniel Hjort. 

He called for greater involvement of universities and trade unions. 

“The plan seems crazy and not well thought out. The frame is not good enough. The best solution must be to admit that you have made a mistake and then open it up again and involve the universities and Danish students, as a recognition that you have failed,” says the chair of the Student Council.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science didn’t respond before the deadline to the questions Omnibus had put to the ministry. Omnibus would among other things like to hear, what the background for making changes in the SPS area is, why the SPS task is only partly transferred to the universities, and what the financial framework for each university student who is to receive SPS will be?

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.