The University of the South Pacific, the USP, says several years of mismanagement has forced its cutbacks.
The USP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rajesh Chandra, traces the problems back to increased salaries to staff and appointments made by his predecessors, who did not have the funds to pay for them.
He says they are undertaking a full assessment to determine where the university should focus, but they have already decided to drop 98 courses and cut one of the four faculties.
Professor Chandra says they have done this after finding a large proportion of the university's resources goes into supporting a very small number of students.
Professor Chandra says they are also endeavouring to tailor the USP to better fit the current and future requirements of the Pacific.