Since May 2018, students and teachers from UvA's faculties of humanities and social studies have been protesting locally and nationally against the university's ongoing budget cuts. The recent wave of protests has seen various organizations collaborate to demand change from both the university and the government. These organizations include student groups such as Humanities Rally, ASVA, De Nieuwe Universiteit, and the national student union, as well as trade unions like FNV.

The budget cuts are part of a larger program aimed at making universities more efficient by cutting a total of €183 million from educational funding. However, government spending per student has decreased by 25% since 2000, despite increasing student numbers. This has led to dissatisfaction from both students and staff, who have expressed their concerns about the impact on education quality. The Netherlands now spends only 0.55% of its GDP on university education, compared to around 1% for most of northwestern Europe. It's worth noting that these cutbacks cannot be attributed to insufficient funds; in 2017, the Dutch government recorded a budget surplus for the second year in a row, amounting to 1.1% of GDP.

Despite these challenges, universities have to cope with reduced funding, leading to larger class sizes and lower-quality education, as some junior staff members have highlighted in their experiences at outdoor lectures.