• Major Sydney and Melbourne universities have indicated they are eyeing further cuts to subjects and employees, as the effects of the pandemic and border closures continue to devastate the sector.
• Suggestions of further cuts come as new government data reveals the full picture of plummeting international student enrolment in 2020.
• There are now 43,000 fewer international students enrolled at Australian universities compared with 2020.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Leading universities across Melbourne and Sydney have indicated they are considering cuts to courses and jobs as the sector flails amid closed borders, rolling lockdowns and the ongoing impact of its exemption from JobKeeper.

The news comes amid revelations new international student university enrolments in Australia have halved since before the pandemic.

The University of Sydney said it was considering closing its departments of studies in religion, theatre and performance, as well as flagging a possible shrinking of the faculty of arts and social social sciences — reducing its six schools to five.

The university said the move will enable it to save on administration as well as eliminate small, loss-making departments.

The departments most likely to be cut, literature, art and media, which is home to studies in religion and theatre and performance, would be absorbed into the other five schools, with high demand to win the department of media and communications, which is one of the biggest money-makers in the faculty.

The University of Technology has also flagged at least 100 more job losses and cuts to subjects within four of its faculties – arts, IT, engineering, and business – as a result of drops in student demand.

The Sydney-based universities said financial challenges, including plummeting international student enrollment and changes to Commonwealth funding, had forced them to review costs.

However some academics have pushed back, suggesting universities are faring better than expected and should stop the cuts.

Sydney University posted a $2.2 million loss for 2020 — far less than expected — leading the academics’ union to question why the cost-cutting continued.

Similarly, the University of Technology said it had weathered the pandemic downturn better than expected, but faced a deficit of $43.1 million with internal modelling suggesting it wouldn’t break even again until 2023.

Victoria’s major universities on Wednesday posted more than $100 million in losses since the border closure last year, resulting in reports that suggest La Trobe, The University of Melbourne and Victoria University, among others, will cut courses and reduce staff numbers into 2021.

The University of Melbourne has been particularly hard-hit, forecasting a revenue shortfall of $290 million this year, and losses of close to $900 million over the three financial years to 2022.

In a statement it said the “future remains extremely uncertain as the effects of the pandemic will continue to be felt for several years to come, especially as Australia’s borders remain closed to international students and the borders of competitor countries are open,”

New figures reveal plummeting international student enrolment

Adding to the snowballing financial and job losses are new numbers outlining the drastic reduction in international enrolments in 2020.

New federal government data found that enrolments from China and India fell 22% and 52% respectively compared with 2020 according to new federal government data.

And overall, there are now 43,000 fewer international students enrolled at Australian universities compared with last year, as the total number of enrolled students continues to drop.

Australian universities shed around 17,300 jobs in 2020 and lost an estimated $1.8 billion in revenue compared to 2019, according to figures released in February by Universities Australia.

The results highlight the escalating “pipeline problem” universities have warned since the pandemic began, where current students who enrolled before the pandemic would finish their degrees in the next few years, with no students replacing them in 2020 or 2021.

Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said continuing border closures mean universities face a double blow in the coming year: fewer returning students in 2020 and reduced numbers in 2021.

“The cumulative impact won’t be felt just in 2020 and 2021, but for years to come,” Jackson said.

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