Key committee says reform to Danish master's degrees is »extremely difficult«

A much-anticipated report from a committee tasked with evaluating the Danish master’s reform has been finally released after a delay of nearly one month.

The committee members are clear in their conclusions: Achieving the political goals of the Danish master’s reform will be »extremely difficult«.

»Danish universities will, of course, work loyally to meet the reform’s objectives and create meaningful, academically sound programs. However, we believe it is unrealistic to achieve all the political goals within the reform’s current framework,« reads a joint statement from Danish university rectors in the final report.

In the original reform plan for future graduate programs, agreed upon in 2023 by the government, the Socialist People’s Party, the Denmark Democrats, Liberal Alliance, and the Conservatives, it was stated that 30 per cent of current master’s programs should be restructured. Ten per cent were to be converted to shorter 75-ECTS master’s degrees, while 20 per cent were to be transformed into  vocational business master’s degree programmes.

The committee criticized this ambition when they released their preliminary report in June 2024. At that time, they assessed that only seven per cent of master’s programmes could be realistically restructured into business-oriented vocational master’s programmes. This criticism remains unchanged in the final report.

The master’s reform committee maintains that within the current reform budget, it will be challenging to develop vocational master’s programmes that are attractive to students. Consequently, the goal of restructuring 30 per cent of programmes would likely result in a much higher intake for the shorter master’s programmes.

The rectors note in their statement that it has therefore not been possible to propose a new, flexible 120-ECTS vocational business master’s degree model.

In a press release from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Minister Christina Egelund acknowledged the complexity of the task and thanked the committee members.

»I will now discuss the report with the agreement parties behind the university reform, as we agreed when the committee was established. Then I will engage in dialogue with universities, students, and businesses on how to ensure that the ambitions in the agreement are realized in the coming years,« she says.

The University Post has been unable to secure an interview with the Minister of Higher Education and Science.

Several parties to the original agreement have already threatened to withdraw from the reform if the proportion of shorter master’s degree programmes is increased beyond the original ten per cent.

One such party is the Socialist People’s Party (SF), whose education spokesperson, Sofie Lippert, told the University Post that this remains as a non-negotiable condition.

»We are sticking to what we agreed upon, so we do not believe it is an option to change the agreement on the ten per cent,« says Sofie Lippert.

Students union: »A mirage«

One of the participants in crafting the new report is Esben Bjørn Salomonsen, chairperson of the National Union of Students in Denmark (DSF) and a member of the master’s reform committee. He believes that the committee has been unable to solve the task within its parameters.

»Creating 20 per cent vocational business master’s degree programmes is impossible. This is a mirage,« he says to the University Post.

Like the Socialist People’s Party, Esben Bjørn Salomonsen argues that the proportion of shorter master’s programmes should remain fixed at ten per cent, and stakeholders should then work together to design an attractive vocational master’s programme.

We need to sit together at a table where we can discuss the ideas and solutions we have

Esben Bjørn Salomonsen, Chairperson, DSF

»At DSF, we have many good ideas, as do [universities lobby ed.] Universities Denmark, the business community, trade unions, and others. But we need to sit together at a table where we can discuss the ideas and solutions we have,« he says.

One model DSF wants to explore further is the so-called 1+2 model. It proposes that students in a business-oriented master’s degree programme study full-time for one year on the Danish SU student grant, followed by two years of part-time study combined with work. The current reform model proposes that the entire study period is equally divided between work and study.

This same model is recommended by the country’s eight university rectors in their statement to the report. They also suggest reducing the minimum weekly employment requirement from 25 to 20 hours.

Sofie Lippert agrees that other models, like the 1+2 model, are worth considering.

»I think we can find models where work life and studies are better aligned. But this requires that we can design new models for the vocational business master’s degree programmes and are not restricted by the current setup,« she says.

According to Esben Bjørn Salomonsen, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science has obstructed discussions of solutions outside the original framework within the master’s reform committee.

The reform should be postponed

Several stakeholders share the master’s reform committee’s criticism. Among them is Camilla Gregersen, chairperson of the trade union DM:

»It is now clear that the reform does not achieve its goal of strengthening the connection between universities and the job market. The shorter programmes offer less connection to the job market and create a labour supply that no one is asking for,« she says in a written comment, adding:

»The master’s reform committee has been given an impossible task, and my strong recommendation is that the agreement parties return to the negotiating table, significantly adjust the agreement, and allow more time for the reform process.«

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Another pressing issue is the looming application deadline for the 2025 intake at higher education institutions. The quota two admissions deadline is 1 March, 2025.

With a political agreement that may need renegotiation, applicants for the 2025 intake risk lacking clarity about their prospective graduate program. This uncertainty has prompted Esben Bjørn Salomonsen to call for the reform to be postponed.

»I fundamentally don’t think it’s fair for students to face uncertainty about the master’s programme that they are signing up for. And that’s what this reform is creating.«