Nottingham will be the only Russell Group university not to teach modern foreign languages degrees if it approves plans to close a swath of courses including Spanish and French as well as music and dozens of others.

The University of Nottingham’s council will next week decide the fate of 48 degree courses currently on offer but many staff fear the worst after the university said it would not accept applications for places next year.

Supporters say the closure of Nottingham’s languages centre would leave the East Midlands as a “linguistic desert” after earlier closures by Leicester and Nottingham Trent universities.

More than 15,000 students, staff, alumni and leading academics have signed a petition warning against making “reckless” cuts to modern foreign languages that would damage Nottingham’s reputation as well as closing one of the UK’s most prestigious language centres offering German, Chinese and others.

Prof Cecilia Gloria, the director of the languages school, said: “An entire generation of aspiring linguists, translators and cultural mediators will find themselves geographically excluded from higher education in their chosen field.”

The university has been hit by industrial action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) over threats of job losses but the strikes have been suspended after the administration agreed to avoid redundancies until October next year.

Prof Lopa Leach, the Nottingham University and College Union branch president, said the union was holding talks with the university over the course closures but – with only a few days until the crucial council meeting – there remained little time to affect the outcome.

Leach said: “They are suspending or closing degrees that they incorrectly believe are no longer affordable. But a Russell Group university without modern languages or music, I mean, come on. One of my colleagues says we will become known as the University of Little England.

“This is not simply fiscally driven, it is a change of ideology by university leaders – they are worried about overseas students not coming to UK, given the hostile environment, although our PhD applications were still excellent this year.

“Add to that the dialogue of undergraduates wanting more ‘useful’ degrees – our executive board are unfortunately buying into that. But it is an error to think that modern languages or music are not important or useful, given they are very highly regarded.”

A spokesperson for Nottingham said that, like other universities, it had been hit by falling revenues and rising costs, forcing it to look closely at its finances.

While it welcomed the government’s decision to increase domestic tuition fees, the spokesperson said any gains were likely to be wiped out by the proposed levy on international student fees.

“A societal shift has significantly affected student demand for music and modern languages degrees over recent years, with the downward trend in recruitment reflecting changing demographics and educational and career preferences,” they said.

“We recognise the important place that music and modern languages have among our university community and are developing plans for skills provision separately from degree courses.”

Prof Lonán Ó Briain, Nottingham’s head of music, said: “The department has educated thousands of composers, researchers, performers, educators and other creative professionals.

“Our graduates have taken up leadership roles within the country’s leading arts organisations. We remain a world-leading centre for music research, ranking second out of all units in the university during the last national research assessment. We are also deeply embedded in the local community, working with schools, music hubs, community groups, venues and professional ensembles.

“The closure of the department would not only dismantle a thriving academic and cultural institution but also severely diminish musical life and future opportunities across Nottingham, the wider East Midlands and the nation as a whole.”

Nottingham said it currently offered about 1,000 taught courses, with the courses affected accounting for less than 5% of the total.