Record number of university students; UvA buckling from internationals

A record number of 340,700 bachelor's and master's students enrolled at a Dutch university this academic year. That is a growth of 4 percent compared to the previous academic year, reports the Association of Netherlands Universities (VSNU), based on the provisional enrollment figures for 2021-2022. The increase is primarily due to a further influx of students from abroad. 

Of the 340,000 registered students, almost 80,000, or 23 percent, are international students. VSNU chairman Pieter Duisenberg warned that the quality of education would come under even more pressure due to the continued student growth. It also puts greater pressure on university staff.

"Internationalization contributes to the quality of education. But there is a limit to the possibilities of our universities to cope with the ever-increasing influx of international students and to provide high-quality education," said Duisenberg. According to him, the VSNU has been asking since 2018 for options for courses "to make the intake manageable."

The University of Amsterdam is buckling under the influx of students, and it too wants a way to "steer" the influx of international students, UvA board chairman Geert ten Dam said to Het Parool. The total number of UvA students increased by 6 percent this academic year to 41,206. Of the bachelor's students, 4,886 are from the Netherlands, and 3,240 are from abroad. The number of international students increased by 33 percent compared to last year. 

"We can no longer handle that growth," Ten Dam said to the newspaper. "There is a housing shortage, there is no longer enough space on the campuses, the workload of employees is unacceptably high, and the quality of our education is under pressure. The groups are getting bigger, lecturers have to supervise more theses; we are drowning. We see this reflected in the fatigue of employees and in employees who can no longer get their work done without substantial overtime."

The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science told Parool that there is no way to stop students from other EU countries from coming to the Netherlands. "Within Europe, there is free movement of people and students with the right papers must not be refused. Just like Dutch students cannot be refused entry to other universities in Europe," a spokesperson said. 

The increasing number of students is also having "major financial implications" for universities. This is because the government grant per student does not keep pace with growth. "On the contrary, it is even shrinking. The number of students has doubled since 2000, but the government grant per student has fallen by 25 percent and continues to decrease with this growth," said Duisenberg.