THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF IRRELEVANT COURSES ON INSTITUTIONAL ENROLMENT

By Grace Anisulowo

The ROI Problem Is No Longer Theoretical

Recent analysis from Bloomberg shows returns are weakening across business education.

• ROI has fallen at four out of five US business schools

• Median ROI dropped from 13.3% to 12.6%

• Pre-MBA salaries rose 6.2%, but post-MBA gains increased only 1.7%

  
  

The gap that justified the investment is narrowing. More concerning: nearly 40% of MBA programmes now deliver negative ROI, graduates are financially worse off.

The pattern is clear: When programmes align with market demand, returns hold. When they don’t, degrees become liabilities.

Some universities are already responding. Across markets, institutions are adjusting supply:

• University of Nottingham suspended 16 courses for the 2026–27 intake, citing low demand

• Macquarie University cut degrees in archaeology, music, and ancient languages

• Bangalore University closed postgraduate programmes with fewer than ten students

  
  

  

These decisions aren’t ideological. They’re economic. Demand is already signalling what the market values.

The Hidden Cost: Brand Erosion

The impact of an irrelevant course doesn’t end at graduation. It compounds it.

A graduate who cannot translate their degree into opportunity becomes a quiet detractor of the institution. Not through formal complaints, but through conversations, recommendations, and online narratives.

Scale that across cohorts, and the effect is predictable: Perception shifts. Trust weakens. Demand follows.

In the UK, student debt now exceeds £53,000 on average, with over 2.8 million graduates carrying at least £50,000.

When outcomes don’t match that level of investment, institutions don’t just lose credibility, they lose future applicants.

What Universities Risk By Standing Still

1. Enrolment Decline: Courses with weak outcomes lose demand gradually, then suddenly.

2. Reputational Damage: Graduate outcomes are now public, searchable, and amplified.

3. Policy intervention: Governments are beginning to link funding, loans, and visas to employability outcomes.

What started as a market signal is becoming a regulatory one.

The Real Question Isn’t About Scrapping Courses

It’s about accountability. Should universities continue offering programmes that consistently fail to deliver economic or career value?

The market is already answering: Low-demand, low-outcome courses are being phased out globally. The institutions that wait will be forced to react. The ones that move early can reposition around relevance, outcomes, and credibility.

What This Means Going Forward

This is about redesigning disciplines, not just eliminating them.

• Curricula tied to real-world application

• Stronger links to industry and employment pathways

• Clearer articulation of outcomes before enrolment

The shift is simple, but uncomfortable:

From education as a product → to outcomes as the product

And institutions that don’t make that shift will feel it first in enrolment, and eventually, in relevance.

© Bade Consulting. Think further.