In the current academic year, fewer international students started a bachelor’s program at a Dutch university than last year. Due to a slight increase in the master’s degree, the international inflow in total is stabilizing, as shown by the provisional registration figures of the Dutch universities.
A possible explanation for the declining influx is that universities have started recruiting less internationally and providing more information about the shortage of student housing.
Jouke de Vries, interim chairman of the umbrella organization Universities of the Netherlands: “These figures show that the growth of international inflow at universities has come to a standstill. We even have fewer new international students in the Bachelor’s program this year. We therefore call on politicians not to take radical measures that could seriously harm the quality of our education and research.”
According to De Vries, science transcends borders by nature, so ‘we must cherish the international character of our universities’. “Because of the enormous shortages in the labor market, society needs international students more than ever who continue to work for the Netherlands after their studies.”
More control over inflow
At the same time, politicians and universities want more control over the influx, so that the sector can continue to fulfill its social tasks in the future. “That is why we have been asking since 2018 for instruments with which universities can control the influx of international students at training level. We would like to continue discussing this with the government.”
Compared to the 2022-2023 academic year, 220 fewer international students started a bachelor’s degree at a university in the current year. The number of Dutch first-year bachelor’s students also fell, causing the total intake for bachelor’s programs to shrink by approximately 900 students.
The number of international master’s students who had not previously followed a course in the Netherlands also decreased slightly compared to last year. Compared to the 2021-2022 academic year, this number has even decreased by more than 1,700 students. The number of international students starting a master’s program grew by 550 students.
A total of 340,700 students are enrolled at a Dutch university.
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