Cardiff University cuts: When education serves the market, society pays the price

James Downs, Mental Health Campaigner

Cardiff University’s recent announcement that it plans to cut 400 jobs – around 10% of its total workforce – alongside course closures and departmental mergers, has shocked the academic community and society alike.

It is a grim milestone for higher education in Wales when our largest university, based in the capital city, is considering closing courses in music, the Welsh language, philosophy, and nursing.

The immediate cause of this crisis is financial. Cardiff University is losing money, and a sharp decline in the number of overseas students – who pay significantly higher tuition fees – has apparently blown a hole in its budget.

But that in itself exposes a much deeper problem: the fact that our universities have become dependent on imported wealth to remain viable.

If an institution’s ability to function is contingent on the financial choices of students from overseas, rather than the needs of the communities it serves, then it isn’t a sustainable or just system.

A model of self-defeating solutions

Rather than questioning this unsustainable model, the usual response to financial crises in higher education is to impose cuts that diminish the very things universities exist to provide.

The subjects that are first on the chopping block tell their own story.

The arts, humanities, and social sciences – the disciplines that help us think, understand, create, and reflect on the world around us – are consistently undervalued in economic calculations.

Music, philosophy, the Welsh language: these are not seen as ‘essential’ in the eyes of a market-driven system.

This logic is flawed on its own terms, as the creative industries are one of our greatest economic strengths, and higher education is one of Wales’s biggest exports.

A well-funded, thriving university sector generates jobs, attracts investment, and contributes to research and innovation that benefit the whole country.

The idea that universities are a drain on public finances is one of the great falsehoods of modern economic thinking. If anything, they are among the best investments a government can make.

Yet, this is about more than just the economy. It’s about the fundamental purpose of education. We saw during the pandemic how vital the arts are to our wellbeing.

We talk endlessly about the importance of mental health, of community, of national identity – things that are so valuable yet hard to put a price on, yet these are precisely the things that are cut first when budgets are tight.

And it’s not just the arts. The idea that a nation should be unable to afford a philosophy department – that we should see philosophy as an indulgence rather than a necessity – says a lot about the state of intellectual life in the UK.

What does it mean when a society can no longer justify funding its own capacity to think? What does it say about our values when even nursing – at a time of crisis in the NHS – becomes vulnerable to financial pressures?

The long view: what universities are for

In medieval European universities, subjects such as theology and philosophy were seen as the pinnacle of intellectual pursuit.

These were not just vocational subjects but areas of study that helped shape minds, cultivate wisdom, and offer insight into the nature of human existence.

This intellectual foundation mirrored the priorities of ancient Greek and Roman academia, where subjects like philosophy, rhetoric, and logic were seen not as practical tools for earning a living, but as means to cultivate virtuous citizens and deepen our understanding of the world.

Over time, science and technology gained prominence, and today STEM subjects dominate funding priorities.

But throughout these shifts, universities remained committed to the idea that knowledge was an intrinsic good – not merely an economic commodity.

What we are seeing now is a break from that tradition.

If we continue down this road, Wales may end up as a country that cannot afford to teach its own language, its own arts, or its own thinkers. We will have severely limited our own future.

The price of everything and the value of nothing

I see the news from Cardiff University not just as a financial story about poor business planning: it is a shameful example of what happens when education itself becomes a business.

If the purpose of universities is defined by the market, they run the risk of prioritising the tuition fees of their student ‘customers’ over creating new knowledge; of valuing cash more than their communities.

Cut education is not a business transaction; it is a collective investment in knowledge, culture, and progress.

It should not be the job of overseas students or corporate partnerships to ‘prop up’ our education system – it should be a national priority. If universities are to serve the public good, they must be funded as such.

Education as a public good

This is where Wales has an opportunity to take a different path. Scotland has already moved towards a more publicly supported model, ensuring that higher education remains accessible and sustainable.

Wales could go further. Instead of being shackled to a failing financial model, we could lead the way in reimagining how universities are funded and structured, recognising them as essential institutions of learning, research, and cultural enrichment.

Beyond just stabilising existing institutions, Wales has the potential to become a world-leading research hub, too.

As a researcher myself, I work with a number of universities across Wales, the UK, and internationally. I see no reason why Wales cannot be at the forefront of global innovation in the areas of mental health research I work in.

We have a national health service, brilliant national datasets, and political accessibility that other countries lack. Unlike NHS England, where bureaucracy often slows progress, Wales has the agility to make meaningful, research-driven policy changes.

But this requires investment, vision, and an understanding that education and research are not luxuries.

If Wales wants to be a nation that thinks, creates, and leads, it cannot accept a university system that is reduced to nothing but its most profitable parts.

A Moment of Reckoning

This story is not just about Cardiff University. It is about what kind of society we want to be.

If the largest university in our capital city is saying it can no longer afford to teach Welsh or music, then the question is not whether we should adjust funding formulas here and there – the question is whether we can afford to accept this at all.

Do we allow our universities to be stripped of everything that makes them universities? Or do we recognise this moment for what it is – a call to build something better?

If we want a future where universities enrich society rather than scramble for survival, we have to fund them as public goods, not failing businesses.

Wales now faces a choice.

James Downs is a mental health campaigner, researcher, psychological therapist and expert by experience in eating disorders.

He lives in Cardiff and can be contacted at @jamesldowns on X, Bluesky and Instagram, or via his website: jamesdowns.co.uk