Teodomiro López argues that the public university should expand places in high-demand degrees before establishing the degree at a private university in Málaga. The UMA has lost over €200 million due to underfunding, according to the rector.
The rector of the University of Málaga (UMA), Teodomiro López, maintains that the solution to the high demand for degrees such as Medicine lies in expanding the offerings of the public university, not by establishing the degree at a private university in the same city. In an interview published by Diario Sur, López suggests that if the cut-off grade in the Faculty of Medicine is 13.5 because only 185 students can be accommodated in the first enrolment, institutions should allow UMA to grow before authorising that degree at a private institution.
The rector estimates that this growth should involve increasing from 185 to 400 places, as is the case in Santiago de Compostela, and he recalls that there are brilliant students who leave or give up for economic reasons. To teach 400 students in Medicine, according to his calculations, between 5 and 8 laboratories and between 50 and 60 teachers would be necessary, which requires more public funding.
“What institutions should do, instead of establishing the Medicine degree at a private university in the same city, is to allow UMA, the public university, to grow.”
López extends this need for growth to other degrees with high social demand and immediate employment, such as Computer Science, Telecommunications, or Industrial Engineering. UMA offers 10,300 places and receives 14,000 applications, a difference that the rector attributes to the lack of funding to expand capacity.
The head of the academic institution identifies the root of the problem as structural underfunding, which he attributes to the Junta de Andalucía. According to his data, UMA's share of Andalusian funding has decreased from 15.1% to 13.8%, resulting in an accumulated loss of over €200 million. Each student at UMA receives about €500 less than the average in the Andalusian university system, which amounts to €20 million annually just to reach that average.
“We are still not in a scenario of economic sufficiency, and that keeps me awake at night.”
The rector assures that the economic situation has improved and that the short- and medium-term outlook is different, but he maintains that sufficiency has not yet been reached. In two and a half years, UMA has reduced its deficit by nearly €30 million through an adjustment plan imposed by the Junta after requesting a loan, with increased teaching loads for faculty and cuts in multiple activities.
Regarding the new evaluation regulation, López highlights that it removes the limit on calls. He also warns of the impact of artificial intelligence: most Bachelor's and Master's theses already show traces of AI, and using it solely to finish quickly is, in his opinion, a pedagogical disaster.
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