FAQ changes in education

For 20 years, the Faculty of Humanities has been pulling out all the stops to keep all degree programmes afloat, despite a declining intake of new students. Our offering (many disciplines and curricula of different sizes) does not fit with the way the government and the university fund education.

Funding 'rewards' large degree programmes, and Humanities does not have many of those. In recent years, we have been able to stick a lot of band-aids with (temporary) funding. Due to the new Collective Labour Agreement, the disappearance of temporary funds and the announced budget cuts, the faculty is seriously in the red.

Yes, because the cuts come on top of already previous financial problems and therefore we are now forced to take steps.

Education is not meant to be profitable, but on the other hand, we cannot make a loss on it either. Education is paid for by tax money and if we have to put in more money than we get, we can no longer afford it. That is currently the case with the Faculty of Humanities, we spend more money than we get in. That has to change, we don't have to make a profit, but our income and expenditure has to balance.

Tuition fees alone are unfortunately not enough to pay for education. You need money to pay lecturers, but also that there are premises, that there is support like the Student Information Desk and Study Advisors and things like books in a library. Every university needs much more money than just tuition fees to pay for all that.

Short-term

• Reducing course offerings in Bachelor's programmes.
• The Humanities Honours Programme is being discontinued. Students starting their degree in September 2026 will be the last cohort to take part in the HHP (starting in September 2027). Elements of the programme will be incorporated into the new BA portfolio and will therefore be available to all students.
• Education is changing: from September 2027, and in some cases from September 2026, the standard weekly structure of a course will consist of a lecture, a seminar and a 'learning activity' (e.g. a visit to a museum, …).

Long-term

• Redesigning our undergraduate portfolio and broadening existing degree programmes to include space for the expertise small degree programmes.
• Closing of five Bachelor's programmes: German, French, Italian, Celtic and Islam and Arabic.

In principle, current students will not be affected by the introduction of the new curriculum. They will continue their studies as they are currently structured. However, there may be changes to the courses offered (this does happen from time to time). In such cases, the BA programme will ensure that a replacement course is provided, through what is known as a transitional provision.

However, the way teaching is organised is changing: from September 2027, and in some cases from September 2026, the standard weekly structure of a course will consist of a lecture, a seminar and a 'learning activity' (e.g. a visit to a museum, …).

We have agreed that from now on our Bachelor's programmes must have a minimum intake of 25 students. For the expertise from programmes that fall below that limit, we will think of another embedding in our broad education portfolio. This agreement was prompted by the long-term unstable financial situation of our faculty.

We are closing programmes, but want to safeguard the expertise of the lecturers by incorporating their teaching into other programmes that will continue to exist. In this way, we also hope to give this expertise more exposure than it would have in a small programme.

Enrolment in the Bachelors of German, French, Italian, Celtic and Islam and Arabic will close on 1 September 2026, at which point no new students can start.

The then current students are guaranteed to complete their degree programme and get their diploma. They have until 1 September 2030 to do so.

There are national agreements on cooperation in language studies. In those agreements, helping solve the language teacher shortage is very important.

The German and French programmes nationwide attract far too few students to solve the teacher shortage. This has been the case for years and there is little prospect of a turnaround. So what we do, and all universities agree on this, is to build other entry routes to teaching and teacher education. Also for people who have acquired their language expertise through other courses.

We are required by law to ensure its supply and quality. We will do the same in every possible way. If lecturers find new jobs elsewhere, we will ensure that a substitute lecturer with qualifications that guarantee the quality of that teaching is provided.

When we close a programme, we must still meet the design and requirements of that programme. So we guarantee that students can follow a full programme until the end and will meet all the final requirements of their programme.

Humanities does not commit to multidisciplinary Bachelor's programmes. The programmes that exist now will remain. There is still a lot of room for disciplinary education.

What we will do is look at 60 EC joint offerings. However, this does not have to be the same for all Humanities students. It could also be shared offerings at a number of courses that are similar in content or method.

What exactly that will look like, we do not know at this stage. A project group of education directors will design that with advice from various groups within the faculty. They will not forget the student participation, such as Curriculum Committees and Faculty Council.

Within the assignment to the BA portfolio project group, qualification for relevant MA and RMA degree programmes was explicitly included as a precondition. Moreover, the consultative group also includes a delegation from the MA degree programmes, with students, lecturers and support.

Yes, the intake depends on many more factors than the students currently studying in the programmes that will close. For example, many Master's students have obtained their Bachelor's degrees at universities other than UU.

We do expect a drop in intake in a few years' time, but that has to do with so-called demographic reasons: fewer and fewer children are being born and so there are now fewer high-school students than before and with, for example, government policies that discourage the intake of international students.

Students can express their opinion via the Faculty Council (in Dutch). Some students also take part in the consultative group that looks at the plans being drawn up for education. Changes in educational programmes are discussed in the Curriculum Committees, which include students.