There is even no need for someone to put pressure on us, as a large majority of colleagues are ready for many things to continue to turn, this is how people stand. "In November 2011, eight universities were declared bankrupt and placed under the guardianship of their rectorate. How can these budget deficit situations be explained? What mechanisms are responsible for these financial difficulties? But also how do university management teams react? What measures are they taking to overcome these debt approaches? It was these questions that guided our survey. The article assumes that the budgetary deficit of universities is a direct consequence of the transition to extended responsibilities and competences (CERs) provided for in the Law on Universities’ Freedoms and Responsibilities (LRU) of 10 August 2007, which is more broadly in line with the neoliberal reforms of the academic world since the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy. However, the article also assumes that if these reforms tend to lead to a general impoverishment of universities, it is not possible to analyse their effects unequivocally. The financial health of universities and the man whose tasks are affected by budgetary constraints also depend on the resources available to them (number of students, links with the local economic and political fabric, attractiveness of their research sector, place in international rankings, etc.) and the strategies they enable them to implement. In other words, and as an effect of “autonomy”, the consequences of recent academic reforms must be analysed both globally and according to local configurations. (...)