When it was announced in June that Stormont budget cuts would result in a reduction in 1,250 student places and 210 jobs at Ulster University, it was inevitable that this would have a significant impact.
The consequences of that announcement became clearer yesterday with confirmation that as many as 70 courses are to be axed, including the entire school of modern languages.
Other subject areas will also be affected, including computing, business management and maths. It is ironic that stand-alone maths degrees will no longer be offered at one of our universities at a time when the subject has just become the most popular A-level.
There is no doubt that a £9 million reduction in its annual budget was always going to be a difficult pill for the university to swallow.
However, this has to be balanced against the £14 million it costs to maintain multiple campuses while there is a separate £250 million plan to relocate many Jordanstown courses in Belfast city centre. This massive building project is already well under way.
UU vice-chancellor Paddy Nixon said a number of factors were taken into account in deciding which courses to close.
These factors included student demand, satisfaction and employment statistics.
Certainly, any higher education institution has to review courses which have a poor uptake but there will be considerable surprise that in the 21st century, modern languages are considered dispensable.
Our institutions are, of course, training people for the workplaces of the future and that will be mainly in Northern Ireland.
But some will wish to pursue opportunities abroad and we should be able to offer the younger generation the chance to equip themselves with multi-lingual skills.
As a result of these cutbacks, prospective students will have their options narrowed and many will end up studying in England, at considerable financial cost.
Ultimately, Stormont should be investing in education, not engaging in short term and shortsighted budget cuts.
