Denmark cuts undergraduate numbers but aims for overseas growth

The Danish government’s decision to reduce the number of bachelor’s students represents a “significant shift” in education policy, according to experts.

The recently elected coalition government also announced that it is to reduce the length of up to a third of all master’s programmes, and will increase the number of international students in the country.

Education minister Christina Egelund announced that the majority coalition of parties had agreed to reduce the number of bachelor’s students by 8 per cent to create a “better balance” between admissions to the various types of higher education.

“This reform marks a significant shift in education policy in Denmark, where the number of students with university education previously has not been capped, as happens with this agreement,” said Jesper Langergaard, director of Universities Denmark, which represented the country’s eight universities in talks with the government.

However, he added that the announcement was not a great surprise because recent years have seen political moves in this direction.

Stina Vring Elias, chief executive of DEA, an education-focused thinktank in Copenhagen, said the reforms extend an ongoing trend in Denmark of gradually tightening higher education following a decade of substantial growth.

“This pattern reveals a strategic shift in Denmark’s approach to higher education, one that strongly emphasises alignment with labour market demands and political priorities,” she added.

But, coming at a time of acute skills shortages, Ms Elias said the changes represented a risk.

She said the best-case scenario would be aligning education with market needs, but the worst outcome could produce a workforce with diminished skills and a higher proportion of individuals lacking marketable qualifications.

“Therefore, the timing of these reforms is indeed a delicate matter, balancing the potential for long-term improvements against the risk of exacerbating existing challenges,” she said.

Also announced were changes to master’s degrees, with a third set to either be shortened or restructured – although this is well below the 50 per cent originally proposed.

Mr Langergaard said that the majority of students would be untouched by the changes, but hoped that the reforms would be the last for many years for universities.

“Even though it is less than what the government initially wanted, this reform is a major reform that touches upon almost all aspects of education at the universities and on all the universities, so we will have our hands full for many years to come,” he added.

Following several years with fewer international students, the government also said it plans to significantly increase their numbers. Institutions will be able to offer more English-language master’s degrees in a bid to improve recruitment.

Ms Egelund said that this would “create value in many places in our society”, and was part of an important step towards future-proofing Danish society.

Potential further reforms in the polytechnic sector could depend on the success or failure of these changes to higher education, said Ms Elias.

“Ideally, I would have preferred to see an encompassing reform that considers the entirety of the higher education sphere, based on a thorough analysis of interconnected areas.”

 patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com