Danish rectors urge rethink of plans for shorter master’s degrees

Danish sector leaders have urged the government to rethink planned master’s degree reforms, warning that the changes could threaten the country’s international competitiveness.

Initially presented in June 2023, the reforms would see the transformation of 30 per cent of the country’s current master’s programmes. The government has said 10 per cent of the programmes should be reduced from two- to one-year courses, while 20 per cent should be reconfigured into industry-aligned business programmes incorporating work placements alongside study.

The shortened programmes would comprise 75 credits, down from 120, according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. A full-time academic year is typically considered the equivalent of 60 credits.

A committee formed to assess the proposals – including the rectors of all eight Danish universities, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Research and members of the National Union of Students in Denmark (DSF) – raised several issues with the plans. To attract students to the business programmes, they concluded, the degrees must be made more flexible, while the required weekly working hours must be reduced to match labour market norms.

Jens Ringsmose, rector of the University of Southern Denmark, told Times Higher Education that “greater economic flexibility” was “essential” to the success of the reforms. Rectors were also concerned, he continued, about “how to intensify the academic year and ensure that students on the shortened degree pathway still have equal opportunities to pursue a PhD”.

DSF president Esben Bjørn Salmonsen feared that a truncated one-year programme could pose “a real problem for Danish students in the international labour market”, asking, “How can we complete master’s degrees in half the amount of time and still get the same quality of education?” The increased workload, he noted, could negatively impact students’ mental health.

The reforms are not wholly unpopular. Per Bruun Brockhoff, rector of the IT University of Copenhagen, said the Danish higher education sector “fully support[ed] the political desire for reform”, telling THE that “demographic shifts in Danish society necessitate changes in the educational landscape”.

“There are definitely possibilities in the shortened master’s programmes, but they cannot replace the two-year programmes entirely,” Professor Brockhoff added. “Within the financial framework proposed by the political parties behind the reform, universities will have to convert many more two-year master’s degrees to one-year degrees than was originally intended.”

Warning of an adverse impact on his institution, which specialises in information technology, Professor Brockhoff commented: “There is a tremendous need for IT professionals in Denmark, not just in the IT industry but in all sectors. We should be educating even more IT professionals than we are currently doing.

“It is my opinion that in cutting the number of IT and STEM graduates, we are ultimately limiting our ability to compete in the global market.”

Mr Salmonsen also raised concerns that the reform plans, expected to be introduced from 2028, would not be finalised in time to inform the application decisions of prospective undergraduates. “The future landscape is not clear,” he said. “People who are applying for bachelor’s programmes this spring will have no certainty of what academic path they’re going into.”

Ideally, Professor Ringsmose said, the reforms would be determined by the universities. “In my view, there is always a strong case for trusting decisions to those best qualified to make them,” he said. “By that logic, decisions about course offerings should always rest with the universities themselves.”

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com