Häfler municipal council approves basic funding for ZU
The basic funding of Zeppelin University (ZU) from the Zeppelin Foundation has been secured for another two years in line with the municipal budget cycle. On Monday, the Friedrichshafen municipal council approved the funding until the end of 2026 by a majority vote, with two abstentions.
This is a strong signal for the ZU: the Friedrichshafen City Council is committed to the university and is providing it with the necessary funds so that the ZU can continue to contribute to the positive image of the city of Friedrichshafen.
The councillors in Häfler have also expressly welcomed ZU's restructuring plans. These plan to simplify decision-making processes in order to make the organization more agile, to adapt the range of courses on offer to the market situation in a more targeted manner and to enable the company to adapt its size more flexibly to the number of students in future. The local councillors were convinced by the reform plans and expressed their confidence in the university management.
"The result makes us very happy," said ZU Managing Director and Chancellor Thomas Brandt after the council meeting, "and we thank the councillors for trusting us to put Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen on a sustainable footing." Thomas Brandt, together with Peter Gerstmann, Chairman of the ZU Foundation, explained the background to the realignment in detail to the municipal council.
The background: the partner search process, which was started in 2023 at the express request of the Friedrichshafen City Council, came to an end in June after the desired partner unexpectedly withdrew from the process due to the current economic situation. The university management has now presented a comprehensive plan on how ZU can move forward without a partner.