Dutch universities plan to admit fewer international students to maintain quality education

While the majority of EU member states establish welcome programs for skilled workers and new students, higher education institutions in the Netherlands want fewer international students.

According to the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the government should limit the number of people admitted to the country for study purposes because the quality of education is at risk and the workload is more difficult to manage, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

These statements were made by UNL President Pieter Duisenberg and acknowledged by Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraff, who said he would discuss the matter with parliament on Wednesday (today). However, Dijkgraff pointed out that international students “can add value to Dutch education.”

“The coalition agreement includes substantial investments in university education and research. Now we need to use them to reduce the workload and get the basics in order. Furthermore, we ask politicians to quickly provide additional options with which universities can control the number of international students in a targeted manner. It is expected that the number of students in universities will continue to increase in the coming years,” Duisenberg said.

In conclusion, the UNL plan deploys several options such as setting a fixed number of students admitted to the English-speaking stream within a study program, setting a maximum number of students from countries per study programme, and an emergency cap to be used if the number of enrollments increases.

>> International student enrollment in the Netherlands is increasing – universities struggle to accommodate all

The number of first-time students enrolled at Dutch universities jumped 4% in 2021, reaching a total of 340,346. In addition, an additional 80,000 international students enrolled in the 2021/2022 academic year. , which represents an increase of 14.2% over the previous year.

According to Erudera.com, the number of international students in the Netherlands increased by 10% in September 2021 as more students became interested in pursuing their academic careers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Commenting on the matter, Dusienberg had said that it was a global trend of students seeking good quality education options at inexpensive costs.

Additionally, data from the IND immigration service revealed that the number of study visa applications from third-country students reached 15,110 at the end of July 2021, compared to the corresponding period in 2020 when the IND admitted 12,310 study visa applications, the number of which decreased by 40 percent.

Most applications for study in the Netherlands are submitted by students from China, India, the United States of America, Turkey and Indonesia.