International student increase has University of Amsterdam concerned

The University of Amsterdam is worried about the rapidly increasing number of international students coming to the Dutch capital. There is not enough housing for them, the workload on lecturers is rising, and Dutch students may be missing out on studying in their own country, Geert ten Dam, chairman of the board of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), said to Het Parool. 

In the past few years, the number of Dutch students at the UvA increased by six percent, while the number of international students tripled, according to the newspaper. About a third of the UvA's 41,000 students come from abroad. 

That internationalization started about 15 years ago when the government and companies appealed to universities to attract international students to obtain knowledge from abroad and prepare Dutch students for an increasingly global labor market. Universities heeded the call but did not expect the intake of international students to increase so quickly, Ten Dam Said. "In retrospect, a bit naive," she said.

According to her, the consequences of this rapid growth are now visible throughout the university. Lecturers are buckling under a high workload. Study- and work groups are growing larger and larger, and there are fewer and fewer study places. It is difficult to find accommodation in Amsterdam, especially for international students who don't know how the housing market works. 

And because universities are not allowed to give students priority based on their nationality, Ten Dam worries about the future of Dutch students at the University of Amsterdam. They now have to compete with motivated students from all over the world for a place in a program. "It cannot be true that boys and girls from Hoorn, Nieuw-West, or Zuidoost will no longer be able to study at the UvA because we are so attractive to international students," she said.