One of Australia’s leading universities, the Australian National University, has cut more than 200 positions through redundancies and voluntary departures as it seeks to find savings of A$250 million (S$208.6 million) by 2026.
Other universities following suit include Western Sydney University, which plans to slash up to 400 jobs, and Macquarie University, which is looking to cut up to 60 academic staff from the Arts and Science and Engineering faculties.
The latest institution to announce cuts was the University of Technology Sydney, which revealed on Aug 14 that it was suspending enrolment in more than 100 courses as it seeks to cut 400 staff. The hardest-hit faculties include Design and Society as well as Health.
According to an analysis provided to The Straits Times by the National Tertiary Education Union, universities announced cuts amounting to 3,578 jobs in 2024 and 2025.
The decision to scale back humanities programmes was prompted by a decline in interest in these courses in recent years.
Professor Andrew Norton of Monash University, an expert on Australian universities, told ST that humanities enrolments have been declining in recent years, possibly due to the emergence of a generation of students who grew up with social media and were less inclined to enrol in studies that required reading lengthy texts.
“There are fewer and fewer students in the humanities, and more subjects are falling below the threshold of viability,” he said.
“The concentration needed to read books of history or literature is no longer there. These subjects are out of reach, as they require skills that many younger people no longer have.”
Asked whether the cuts are likely to affect the quality of education, Prof Norton said: “I am sure they will. Academics are departing mid-course, and some subjects are gone.”
He added that the decline in interest in the humanities came as Australian universities were struggling to address rising costs due to wage increases, as well as changes to workplace laws in 2024 that required universities to switch many of their casual staff to permanent contracts.
University wage increases vary, but many have annual increases of about 3.5 per cent, which is in line with the national average but above the current inflation rate of 2.1 per cent.
Compounding universities’ woes, an increase in the non-refundable fee for student visas – from A$700 to A$1,600 in 2024 and then A$2,000 in 2025 – as well as changes making it harder for foreigners already in Australia to obtain student visas are affecting international enrolments, particularly at regional institutions.
“The problems for universities are on the cost side,” Prof Norton said. “Subjects with low enrolments cannot cover their costs and are being axed... The changes to student visa regulations have particularly affected regional institutions that serve the Indian market, which tend to be more migration-focused students,” he said, referring to students who look to stay on in Australia beyond their studies.
Data indicates that as at May 2025, Australia had 442,407 foreign students in universities, up from 398,588 in May 2024. This increase was driven partly by foreigners already in Australia enrolling in studies.
But fresh enrolments of international students fell from 169,907 in 2024 to 127,573 in 2025, following the visa fee increases in 2024 and 2025.
Of those enrolled in May 2025, about 140,000 were from mainland China, 82,000 were from India, 43,000 were from Nepal and 20,000 were from Vietnam. There were 5,581 students from Singapore.
Mr Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, told ST that the cuts to humanities courses and staff in Australia would not affect most international students, who tend to study science, engineering, technology and economics-related courses.
However, the visa fee increases could be a deterrent, he said.
“It is the world’s highest non-refundable student visa fee,” said Mr Honeywood. “It sends a message that you’re not as welcome here as elsewhere.”
The latest institution to announce cuts was the University of Technology Sydney, which revealed on Aug 14 that it was suspending enrolments in more than 100 courses as it seeks to cut 400 staff. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Universities Australia, a peak body that represents Australian universities, and the Group of Eight, which represents eight of Australia’s top universities, declined invitations to comment.
Some universities say slower visa processing for some international students has also affected enrolments.
The federal government typically prioritises visa processing of international students, but in 2025 it ordered that the prioritisation would end once individual universities had surpassed specified “caps” on the intake of foreign students.
These changes followed concerns about rising migration to Australia and the potential impact on property rental rates and congestion.
But the government recently signalled it was once again open to boosting international student numbers.
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On Aug 4, it announced that the cap on the annual intake of new international students would increase from 270,000 in 2025 to 295,000 in 2026.
The government said it wanted to restore confidence in the sector, adding that foreign students provide a benefit to universities and the broader economy and help to improve Australia’s ties with countries in the region.
The recent hits to university revenue have led to growing concerns in Australia about the future of the country’s education institutions, and the risk that the decline of the humanities will lead to declines in literacy levels and critical thinking.
In an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald on July 8 that was headlined “Don’t go to university next year. Just don’t”, columnist Jenna Price urged parents to reconsider sending their children to study at university.
“Universities are now places of chaotic cost-cutting and cruel managers whose sole interest is the bottom line,” she wrote. “Entire disciplines are being cut, staff numbers slashed... Going to university in 2026 is a risk no one should take.”
Jonathan Pearlman writes about Australia and the Pacific for The Straits Times. Based in Sydney, he explains matters on Australia and the Pacific to readers outside the Oceania region.
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