Universities fear decline, dropouts, and more inequality due to new Cabinet plans

Colleges and universities are worried that there will be an increase in students not finishing their studies if the new Cabinet implements budget cuts on higher education and research and implements a fine for people who take too long to finish their courses. They fear that the quality of education will decrease and that not all young people will have the same chances to study. The measures that the Cabinet has announced will also aggravate the lack of staff issues that universities and colleges are struggling with, according to the institutions.

ANP's tour of some colleges and universities revealed that the higher education sector strongly opposes the plans. The coalition parties want to cut the sector's budget by hundreds of millions of euros a year. "A whole generation will be affected by this, and there is also the threat of a major negative economic impact, and inequality of opportunity will grow," The Hague University of Applied Sciences said.

The umbrella organization University of the Netherlands (UNL) thinks that the coalition parties are playing with the future of the country's young people.

A fine for taking too long to finish your study course, which the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB are looking to implement, has also been heavily criticized. "Unexpected, unpleasant, thoughtless," the Hogeschool Rotterdam described the plan as. "This measure will put more pressure on our students and will scare off future students and cause unnecessary dropouts," said the Avans University of Applied Sciences.

Colleges and Universities are internally preparing for cuts, although they still hope that the plans are canceled. The University of Groningen and the Inholland University of Applied Sciences are currently not hiring any new staff; vacancies are being filled from within.

"We will have to intervene," said the Radboud University of Nijmegen. The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) is taking a very critical view on which vacancies need to be filled and not extending most temporary contracts.

According to the HvA, the new Cabinet has to stick to long-term agreements made by the former Cabinet with the sector. "The government cannot just undo the agreements made. We will test this legally if we have to."

Higher professional education courses are also worried about the future of their practice-oriented research. Universities are also outraged about cuts of over a billion euros to the fund for research and science and the abolition of sector plans (215 million euros per year). These plans were supposed to lead to a higher quality of education.

"The cuts that are planned threaten the existence of essential education courses, faculties, and universities," scientists of the Universiteit Leiden said with the approval of their board. They have been campaigning daily against the cuts. During 'lunch talks,' they discuss the question, "What will the Netherlands lose if this research disappears?"