UTS is focused on achieving a financially sustainable future where students can continue to get the quality of education they expect, and we can continue to deliver research outcomes for the communities that benefit from our work.

Like many universities nationally, UTS has been impacted by changes in federal funding for both domestic and international students that have limited our ability to increase revenue. 

We have been operating in deficit for the last five years and this cannot continue. We have to remove $100 million in operating expenditure from our budget. We are a not-for-profit organisation, but we need to ensure that our revenue covers the costs of operating.

We’ve undertaken a wide-ranging review to ensure UTS can continue to thrive in a challenging environment.   The proposal released to staff outlines a range of suggestions to help UTS become stronger and more sustainable into the future. Right now, these are just proposals – no changes will happen immediately.


Key proposals included in the academic change proposal include:

Faculty structures

  • Creating a more consistent and streamlined faculty structure, reducing the number of faculties from six (with 24 schools) to five (with 15 schools). This will bring UTS into line with other similar-sized universities. 
  • Creating a combined new Faculty of Business and Law - including UTS Business School, Faculty of Law and the Transdisciplinary School. All have a strong strategic focus on social purpose with shared values, and the combined faculty will create opportunities for deeper collaboration in teaching and strengthened research impact across its established research initiatives, centres and labs. 
  • Merging some schools within faculties to create more efficiencies. 
  • Disestablishing the School of International Studies and Education due to low enrolments with some programs integrated into other schools. These are high quality programs and produce high quality graduates but are not financially sustainable for UTS to continue with small cohorts. In education for example, UTS has the third smallest cohort in these programs in Australia, and the smallest in NSW.
  • The School of Public Health will be disestablished, and the Discipline of Public Health (DoPH) will be created in the School of Health & Human Performance (SoHHP).   

Courses and subjects

  • Courses and subjects will be refined and streamlined, with duplication removed to improve progression paths, elective options, teaching coordination, and overall student experience.
  • This includes 167 courses to be discontinued, many of which have already had new intake suspended in August 2025 (approximately 60 relate to 2 degrees and their double degree combinations), and 1101 subjects of which 638 were taught in 2024. The remainder were not taught in 2024 and had no student enrolments.
  • Faculties identified these courses and subjects based on one or more of the following factors: low demand, enrolment trend over time, financial viability and strategic alignment with faculty priorities. 

Under the proposed changes, UTS would continue to offer more than 400 courses and 2,300 subjects.


Supporting our students
  • Any proposed changes would not take effect until the 2026 academic year.
  • Current students will be able to complete their course.
  • Identified low demand subjects will not be offered from 2026.
  • There are existing policies that guide changes to courses and subjects, including phase out and discontinuation.
  • For higher degree by research (HDR) students, as the circumstances for every HDR student will is different, this will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
  • Students will be contacted through their UTS email address during the change implementation if their area of research or supervisor is affected.  

While the courses proposed for discontinuation produce high quality graduates they are not sustainable to continue as they have small cohorts. Some of the courses proposed to discontinue have no students, some have less than 10 students. 

If you are undertaking one of the courses listed in the Academic Change Proposal and concerned about how this proposal will impact you, rest assured we’ll contact you directly later this year with specific advice once decisions have been made with staff. We’ll support you through any changes and keep you informed.  


Questions and feedback

You can find answers to frequently asked questions and HDR-specific FAQs.

If you have feedback on the proposal outlined in this fact sheet studentfeedback@uts.edu.au


Staff impacts

The proposed revised curriculum offering would lead to a reduction in our academic workforce.

We regret the need for job losses and the changes have been carefully considered to limit these. We have already acted to find $20 million through other cost saving measures including limiting executive remuneration. Professional Staff Change Proposals – to be released in the weeks ahead – will detail further staff reductions across a range of areas.

We ask that students are mindful of the impact on staff at this difficult time.


Supporting our staff

We recognise the challenges these changes bring. We are committed to supporting our staff throughout this period, ensuring they have access to dedicated resources for their health and well-being. We will navigate these transitions with compassion and care, ensuring that as decisions are made, those impacted are offered support.