By Jakob Elkjær, Head of Press at AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Claus Søndberg

The reform of the Master's programmes is a major reform that affects degree programmes in all main areas at Aalborg University. As the last of four faculties, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) has now presented a plan for closing down the number of student places required by the reform.

The deadline for comments is today – 10 October – and the proposals will now be presented to the Academic Council and the Faculty Consultation Committee. The overall plan will be considered and approved by the Executive Management in November.

"We are in the process of putting together a big puzzle. A majority in the Danish Parliament instructed us to resize and restructure student places in all main areas. Our goal is a balanced plan, so that we continue to be a broad, multi-faculty university that offers strong degree programmes in all the main areas," says Anne Marie Kanstrup.

Protests and demonstration

The announcement of the closure of degree programmes in the SSH area has led to protests from students, staff and local politicians in the media and on social media. They fear that the closure of key humanities subjects such as philosophy and music will weaken the university's profile as an "entire university" and have negative consequences for Northern Jutland’s cultural life. A number of students have also planned a demonstration at Nytorv today – 10 October – at 15.00.

"I have great respect for their commitment to their programmes which they are obviously happy about and do not want to see close. That is far better than indifference. We also share an agenda with local politicians, educational leaders and cultural institutions in ensuring a strong and sustainable Northern Jutland. It is absolutely crucial for us as a university to support and closely interact with the North Jutland business community, cultural life and the other educational programmes," says Anne Marie Kanstrup.

The proposal underwent a comment period in the study boards and the department council, etc. at the departments concerned. It will now be discussed in the Academic Council and the Faculty Consultation Committee before the Dean's Office makes its final recommendation to the university's Executive Management which will consider the matter on 19 November.

 "Before the Executive Management receives the final recommendation, all comments will of course be read carefully, and there will be further discussions in the consultation committee. It is a process that the university takes seriously, and no one in the management rejects anything out of hand. At the same time, it is also the case that the Master's programme reform is tied to the resizing and restructuring of our programmes. It hurts to close down degree programmes, because all the programmes we offer are important and relevant, but the reform forces us to prioritize," says Pro-rector Anne Marie Kanstrup.

Specifically, the dean's office at SSH proposes to close admissions to seven Master's programmes: Applied Philosophy, Information Studies, Interactive Digital Media, International Business Communication (English), Music, Experience Design, and Social Science. The closure will be gradual so that only applicants with legal rights of admission may be admitted as of 2028, and the degree programmes will thus be closed when there are no more Bachelor's graduates with legal rights of admission left.

At the same time, the dean's office is planning to close admission to five Bachelor's programmes as of 1 September 2026: Applied Philosophy, International Business Communication, Music, Art and Technology, and Social Science.

Prioritization and new profiles

At the same time, as of 2028, the dean's office wants to prioritize the available 120-ECTS credit places for Business Law, Law, Economics and Business Administration, Music Therapy, Psychology and 'a rethinking of the communication programme with specializations'. 

In addition, two new 75-ECTS credit Master's programmes are proposed: Social & Human Data Science and Digital Design & Information Architecture – each with 20 places. The places in the 75-ECTS credit Master's programme in Entrepreneurial Business Engineering will also be expanded, and minor subjects in Social Studies will be retained.

In its proposals, the SSH dean's office has, among other things, emphasized a number of key programme figures, including application and admission, size, drop-out rate and unemployment rate, as well as a programme portfolio that functions in the future and supports a good study environment. The proposals are also based on the fact that SSH has degree programmes with vacant places, while qualified applicants for other programmes must be rejected.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs