Shocking: An assistant professor’s net wage below EUR 620/month in Hungary

750 Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) employees signed a letter calling their wages unacceptable and the students’ allowances low. According to their complaint, the university teachers’ base income does not reach the average salary of engineers in Hungary.

University teachers’ wages in Hungary are ridiculously low

According to telex.hu, an assistant professor at BME gets HUF 277,200 (EUR 703) gross wage/month. That is only EUR 469/month net. Since they cannot take home less than the guaranteed Hungarian minimum wage, their final gross income is HUF 366,000 (EUR 929), which is EUR 620 net per month. You must obtain your PhD to become an assistant professor in Hungary.

An associate professor’s guaranteed monthly gross wage is only HUF 535,200 (EUR 1358).

PhD students get HUF 140,000 (EUR 355) per month in the first two years and HUF 180,000 (EUR 456) in the last two years.

Therefore, the teachers at BME would like at least a 50% wage rise as soon as possible and a guaranteed salary increase following the inflation.

Photo: FB/BME

Hungarian university students must work

Népszava shared some shocking data about university students in Hungary. According to a survey, 3/4th of the students have a job, and half would move abroad after acquiring their diploma. The survey was representative, containing the answers of 9,764 students.

Marcell Budai, the president of the National Union of Students in Hungary (HÖOK), said work had become necessary for Hungarian students due to the economic crisis. The number of Hungarian families able to spend on their children’s education has decreased significantly in the last few years.

Mr Budai said that the maximum scholarship a Hungarian student can get with excellent results does not reach EUR 90 per month. Therefore, scholarships cannot convince students that studying is worth more than working.

Students’ allowances increased in 2020, but inflation took that extra money away between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, the number of places in dormitories did not increase even though rental prices skyrocketed.

More than 50% of the students said they would move abroad, provided they found a good job opportunity. However, 56% of the students said their studies did not prepare them for working in a foreign country.

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