Record number of students enroll for higher professional education in NL

Student enrollment for higher professional education (HBO) in the Netherlands reached a record high for the academic year 2018/2019, the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences announced. A total of 110,307 students enrolled, 3.4 percent more than the previous year, NU.nl reports.

An increase in first year students can be seen in almost all sectors of higher professional education, both in full-time and part-time courses.

The biggest increase was in the training for primary school teachers. A total of 4,755 students registered to become primary school teachers, 10.2 percent more than the previous year. This is good news for the Netherlands, where there is an increasing shortage in teachers. According to the association, the number of students over the age of 30 is remarkably high.

The inflow of students studying to work in the healthcare sector, which is also facing urgent staff shortages, increased by as much 27 percent in the past four years.

In the current academic year, a total of 456,633 students are enrolled in a HBO program. A total of 76,405 diplomas were issued in the previous academic year.