Serious measures for a future-proof faculty of Humanities
Cuts in Humanities
To ensure that Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities is future-proofed, the faculty's board is taking serious measures in the coming years. These measures should help maintain breadth in teaching and research, while addressing the faculty's financial deficit.
Six small degree programmes close
The most high-profile intervention is the closure by 2030 of six degree programmes, which get fewer than 25 new students a year and have not been profitable for years: the Celtic, French, German, Islam and Arabic, Italian and Religious Studies programmes. This means the intake of new students for these Bachelor's programmes will stop from 1 September 2026.
Knowledge and expertise is reflected in other degree programmes
However, not only cuts are being made. To ensure that the content and expertise of these degree programmes is not lost, a new design for undergraduate education within Humanities is being built simultaneously. This will make knowledge from these fields of study accessible to a larger group of students and keep research and expertise available to society.
Financial deficits at faculty
The Faculty of Humanities' financial situation has been unstable for years. Dean Thomas Vaessens explains: "That's because we maintain a range of programmes that have become unaffordable over time." With the cuts announced by the cabinet, significant problems have been added.
The faculty's deficit informally meets from about €7 million in 2025 to €13 million in 2027. "As a result, we have to cut our expenses substantially. To have no more deficits by 2030, we have to cut 10%. That is a big assignment, which requires more than just closing unprofitable degree programmes. It cannot be done with relatively small measures and patchwork, a transition is needed." said Vaessens. Currently, there are no forced redundancies, but the board cannot rule out a reorganisation in the long run.
Transition plan should help turn the tide
Austerity is not done with a blunt axe, but thoughtfully. "We are not doing that change and intervention off the cuff, but on the basis of a transition plan that serves a greater purpose than simply making cuts. To implement this transition plan, we have received support and time from the University's administration."
Vaessens continues: "The focus in the coming years will be on collaborating across disciplinary boundaries, around themes that concern us and that we cannot allow to be approached in a one-sided technological, economic or political way. That's what society needs us for."