Sector resizing: AU will continue to offer a wide range of degree programmes

Aarhus University now has an overall roadmap for the implementation of the sector resizing agreement. Under the political agreement on sector resizing, which is part of the Master’s degree reform, the university must cut net enrolments in Bachelor’s degree programmes by 9.5% over average enrolments for the period 2018-2022. This will entail a net reduction of 545 student places over the average for this five-year period.

In addition to the cap on Bachelor enrolments, a different political agreement – the relocation agreement concluded in 2022 – also has consequences for the process. Under this agreement, Aarhus University must also create about 200 new student places elsewhere, particularly at AU Viborg. When these places are taken into account, the actual reduction in enrolments in existing degree programmes is 13%, corresponding to 745 places.

This is how each faculty will contribute to the total net reduction in BA/BSc enrolments:

The additional 120 places allocated to Tech are a consequence of the relocation agreement, under which new places must be created. Health’s cap on enrolments was set too low in the relocation agreement: this imbalance is partially redressed in the plan, and the faculty’s net reduction should be seen in this light. Nat has also been compensated to a modest degree. Get the details here. 
AU’s total intake in 2023 was lower than the university’s average enrolment for the period 2018-2022; relative to 2023 enrolments, the net reduction is 346 places.

AU will remain a comprehensive university

Under the government’s ‘sector resizing’ agreement, the individual universities are responsible for determining which programmes are to be cut. As a consequence, since the broad political agreement on sector resizing was finalised in April 2024, the senior management team has been working out the principles that will guide the coming reduction in places at Aarhus University.   

The senior management team has made every effort to develop a balanced solution that will provide the best possible support for the faculties’ ability to offer a wide range of programmes and financial stability. At the same time, the solution affirms the senior management team’s commitment to the university’s ambition to offer a broad range of degree programmes, explained Rector Brian Bech Nielsen:

“We have allowed ourselves to be guided by the logics underlying the political agreement on degree programme resizing. To a large degree, the agreement focuses on historical graduate unemployment rates. But it also states that it’s necessary to take into account the effect of the Master’s degree reform on the affected subjects across the board at Danish universities, as well as the range of new places offered. We’ve attempted to balance these considerations with a focus on AU’s ambition to continue to be a genuinely comprehensive university.”

The principles for implementation at AU are based on the following parameters:

• Graduate unemployment rates
• The faculties’ relative loss of revenues from educational activities relative to 2023
• New student places offered (including geography)

The first two parameters are weighted equally in relation to the distribution of the first 545 seats. The remaining approx. 200 were allocated according to the following formula: each faculty contributes equally to half of the places to be cut, and the other half is divided among the faculties based on the number of student FTEs produced per faculty in 2023.

As Brian Bech Nielsen explained, “We all agreed that this is a challenge we must work together to overcome. This was a complex exercise, because the faculties’ situations are very different, but the senior management team has made every effort to land a solution that will be tenable for all five faculties going forward.”

What happens next?

The sector resizing implementation plan was presented to the Main Liaison Committee on Monday.

Over the coming months, each faculty will clarify how the required cuts will be allocated across the individual degree programmes. Although all of the faculties will be significantly affected by the cuts, at the same time, the redesign of Master’s degree programmes will impact individual subjects in different ways. As a consequence, the faculties will not necessarily all follow the same roadmap for the process, as the rector explained:

“The tasks facing the faculties differ enormously, and there can be quite a lot of local variation in what considerations must be taken into account. That’s why it’s important that the faculties themselves decide on processes and schedules for the process going forward.” He added:

“Beyond a doubt, this is a difficult challenge for the faculties and the individual subjects. But I’d also like to stress that Aarhus University is a strong institution, and that we are committed to quality in everything we do. And that won’t change, despite the fact that we – as a consequence of the political agreement – will have to admit fewer students than we do today.”