VU Amsterdam also tells international students to stay away if they don't have housing

After the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit now also told international students not to come if they haven’t found housing. There is simply not enough housing available for all the international students who want to study in Amsterdam, Het Parool reports.

If you don’t have a room before August 1, the VU Amsterdam advised against studying at the university in the coming academic year. The UvA advised students to stay away if they can’t find housing by August 15.

So far, 72,769 students have registered to study at the two Amsterdam universities this coming academic year. 17,987 of them come from abroad. Registration is still open, so those figures could increase.

In the past two years, the universities arranged emergency shelters for students unable to find homes in hostels and holiday parks. These were largely empty due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. So students could stay there while searching for a home. This year that is no longer an option.

Last week, the national student union LSVb also sounded the alarm about the student housing shortage in the Netherlands. According to the union, far more students have registered with Dutch educational institutions than there is accommodation available