The German Finn Schierholz (18) received the festive message in May that he can study Artificial Intelligence in Groningen from September. But it is almost impossible to find a place to live, notes Schierholz, who comes from near Munich. After dozens of messages and calls to room landlords, he promised on Facebook to give 200 euros to the person who has the golden tip. “I’m even considering sleeping in a tent, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to study then.”
During his search, he received a message from the University (RUG) and the municipality: if he does not find a room before 1 August, he should consider not coming at all. Students who do come will ‘probably have to rely on hotels or hostels for a longer period of time, if there are still places available’.
‘Realistic image’
Groningen is no exception. The UvA and the VU in Amsterdam, TU Eindhoven, Maastricht University and Utrecht University, among others, sent letters with the same message.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but we try to paint a realistic picture for students: finding housing is not easy,” says Anja Hulshof of the RUG. “We have now received reactions from foreign students who say they will not come anymore, but we know that there are also others who will settle here without plans.”
The situation is particularly dire in Amsterdam. There are already 4,500 candidates for the three thousand furnished homes intended for first-year international students. At the end of June, the VU had already received more than 1800 more applications than there are places to live.
‘Homeless’
“It is essential that you can start the academic year and adventure abroad without the stress of possibly becoming homeless,” says the UvA. “If you can’t find a place to live, we urgently advise you to adjust your study plans.”
That message alone will not be enough, thinks Midas Bosman of student union LSVb. “I can well imagine that foreigners who have been accepted for their dream study will just come. At the same time, with the current situation, we know that students will be homeless in September.”
Due to the situation, attention is being paid to the rapidly growing number of international students in the Netherlands. While 50,900 foreigners followed a study in the Netherlands in 2012-2013, in 2020-2021 this was more than 100,000. According to the National Student Housing Monitor, this will increase to almost 140,000 in the coming years. There are 25,600 student rooms too few in the Netherlands.
For a long time, universities and colleges welcomed foreign students with open arms. Educational institutions may charge the fixed tuition fee of 2,200 euros to Dutch and EU students, but for students outside the EU they can come up with an amount themselves. For example, a one-year master’s degree at the UvA at the Faculty of Law costs 16,500 euros for a non-EU student.
New law
Educational institutions are now asking politicians in The Hague for a new law so that they can curb the large influx. “We can’t just refuse students right now,” says Hulshof of the University of Groningen. “If they meet the selection criteria for a study, we have to accept them. Whether they come from the Netherlands or from Bangladesh.” One of the options is to allow schools to set an application limit for English-taught studies.
The LSVb student union has other ideas for slowing down the influx. “Not actively recruiting foreign students could already help. And only use English in studies if it really is an addition. That is not always the case now.”
One thing is certain for the Bavarian student Schierholz: he will come to Groningen at the end of August. With or without room. “This is one of the only places where you could do this study, in English. So that decision is certain.”