First decline in international bachelor students in years, says Dutch education agency

There has been a drop in the influx of international students to full-time bachelor programs for the first time in years, the Education Executive Agency (DUO) stated in its 2025 Higher Education Trend Report. Meanwhile, master’s programs are still seeing growth in enrollment.

The international influx in higher education has been rising significantly in the last few years and is currently twice the level it was in 2014/15. Over the past few years, the government has introduced several initiatives to manage the number of international students in higher education. One example is the proposed Internationalization in Balance Act (WIB), presented in May 2024. This year, universities have also taken steps of their own, such as capping enrollment in certain English-taught programs.

According to DUO, the trend report paints a varied picture of study programs in sectors struggling with labor shortages, including education. Enrollment in teacher training programs is increasing among students coming from havo (senior general secondary education) and vwo (pre-university education), but falling among those entering from mbo (senior secondary vocational education) and higher education.

Dropout rates in science and technology fields have leveled off, and the spike in healthcare bachelor’s enrollments seen during the pandemic seems to have come to an end.

More and more students in mbo levels 3 and 4 (senior secondary vocational education) are making use of the basic grant, bringing their usage rate close to that of students in levels 1 and 2.

In higher education, the supplementary grant is becoming increasingly common. DUO attributes this to a higher parental income threshold and a website update that now automatically selects the option to apply for the supplementary grant.