Fewer international students; Universities ask Dutch gov't not to stem flow further

Universities and universities of applied sciences are attracting fewer and fewer students from abroad. Therefore, they warn against the government’s plans to reduce the inflow even further. However, universities of applied sciences also see that their teacher training courses are very popular.

At universities, the number of new international bachelor students fell by 6 percent. The inflow from the European Economic Area (EEA) fell by 9 percent. This area includes the 26 other European Union member states, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Universities of applied sciences welcomed 8 percent fewer students from the EEA and 7 percent fewer from the rest of the world.

According to the umbrella organization Universities of the Netherlands, the number of international students is also falling in fields where companies are urgently looking for new employees. “Despite this, this government wants to reduce the number of international students even more with severe cutbacks and rigorous legislation. This threatens to become an untargeted clearing that will jeopardize the continued existence of courses, including for Dutch students,” said chairman Caspar van den Berg.

Chairman Maurice Limmen of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences said that universities of applied sciences already succeed in limiting the number of international students. “More drastic measures such as the government wants to implement are unnecessary.”

The impact is the greatest at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. The number of new bachelor students from outside the Netherlands fell by almost a quarter. The University of Groningen attracted 14 percent fewer new students from other EEA countries.

A total of 108,500 people started a higher professional education (HBO) study this past summer, almost 1 percent more than a year earlier. The number of new registrations for teacher training rose by 7 percent. “Very welcome, given the very large teacher shortages,” said Limmen.

338,400 new students registered at universities, almost 0.5 percent less than a year ago. The number of Dutch people who started a bachelor’s degree at a university rose by approximately 1 percent, from 40,600 to 41,000.