DKK 68m for Danish universities to revive German and French programmes

The Danish government plans to allocate DKK 68 million to strengthen the study of German and French in higher education. This is according to a press release from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

The extra funding comes in response to a sharp drop in enrolment in language programmes over the past 15 years.

Enrolment in language subjects has halved, according to the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science numbers — from around 1,900 students in 2011 to approximately 1,000 in 2025. In German and French alone, the decline has been even more pronounced: from around 200 to just 84 students this year.

Overall enrolment in higher education has increased by five per cent over the same period. Fewer Danish universities offer German and French than 20 years ago.

Minister: Only speaking English is not sustainable

Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund justifies the initiative with the need to strengthen language skills in both education and the business sector.

»It is not sustainable for us to only speak English if we want to be a cultured society. Especially nowadays, it is crucial that we are able to communicate, understand each other, and trade across borders and cultures. I would go so far as to say that language skills are part of our European identity,« she says.

In a bid to make German and French programmes more attractive, the Danish parliament allocated DKK 40 million to boost the languages in higher education in 2021. The funds were used for smaller class sizes, more hours of language teaching, and intensive programmes at the beginning of studies. Evaluations showed that the initiative had a positive effect on both retention and academic outcomes.

READ ALSO: Denmark to stop its language boost: »Will affect students’ results«

The funding was due to expire in 2025 however, with no extension and with no new funding in sight — until now.

Funding from multiple sources

According to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, DKK 50 million will be sourced from the 2026 national budget, while the remaining DKK 18 million will come from so-called quality funds. The funding will be used for a number of initiatives, the details of which have yet to be determined.

The government emphasises that the investment is meant to ensure that teachers in foreign languages will continue to be trained for both primary and secondary schools — and that the business sector will be able to recruit graduates with skills in German and French.

READ ALSO: Student of German: »I’ve found joy in following my true calling«

The minister is to begin a dialogue with universities, educational institutions and other stakeholders this autumn to gather input on how best to design the new initiative.

This article was first written in Danish and published on 28 August 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.