The Government of the Netherlands has put the brakes on the internationalization of national universities and polytechnics.
The offer of degrees and master's courses in English is wide, but the number of students enrolled from other countries -115,000 in the 2021-2022 academic year, 35% of the total number of students, and 12% more than the previous year- has grown in such a way that it has negative effects.
It produces overload for teachers and a lack of accommodation for students, and the combination of both factors can compromise the very quality of teaching.
Because of this, the Ministry of Education has asked the rectors to temporarily stop recruiting foreign students.
Robbert Dijkgraaf, head of the department, has sent a letter to Parliament this December communicating his request,
Dutch universities have been expanding the offer of courses taught in English since the year 2000. Currently, 53% of degrees (
bachelor
) are taught in Dutch, and 28% in English.
On the contrary, 77% of master's courses are in English, according to Nuffic, the organization that promotes international cooperation in education and collaborates with the Government.
This November, Minister Dijkgraaf declared the following: “We need to have a national vision on the opening of universities to the exterior;
know what we want
We lack that look."
The majority of Parliament is in favor of stopping the flow of foreign students, and Education expects universities to do so voluntarily.
Exceptions may be made in sectors of the labor market in need of graduates, among which health, technology and education stand out.
While the minister prepares new regulations, the rectorates have also published their own list of requests.
He is concerned about the overcrowding and also the possible comparative grievances when it comes to accepting the student body.
In space engineering or mechanical engineering, they would want to differentiate between students from inside and outside the EU.
In this way, they could limit the registrations of one group without affecting the other.
In bachelor's degrees taught in Dutch, and which also have their variant in English, such as Psychology, Public Administration or Political Science, they would prefer to limit the places in English in order to maintain equal access for Dutch applicants.
They also suggest distributing the students among the different universities, to decongest the most requested ones.
At the head of the most attractive are Amsterdam, Maastricht, Groningen, Rotterdam and Delft, Nuffic points out in his documents.
Balancing the teaching load is another of the constants to avoid that, in careers with a lot of pull, such as Computer Science at the Vrije Universiteit VU (Free University), in Amsterdam, there are hundreds of students in the first year.
At the moment, these are ideas launched from the centers themselves, but everything depends on the new regulations issued by the ministry.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, 72% of the students came from a European country, calculate the experts from Nuffic itself.
In this order, Germany, Italy, Romania, China and Belgium are the main places of origin.
In its annual report on the matter, the same organization points out a significant increase in the number of nationals from Poland (47%), Spain (34%), Romania (30%), France (19%) and Greece (19%) ).
The Statistics Office adds that, in the first year, 40% of the total number of enrollees (some 42,000) also traveled to the Netherlands from elsewhere.
The careers preferred by these groups of students are Law, Administration and Business, Business, along with Languages, Social Sciences or Design.
Incentives to attract students
The recruitment of students from abroad not only serves to internationalize the university.
The amount of subsidies granted by the Government also improves: the more registered, the more official aid to finance education.
In 2021, the support was 8,000 euros per student, according to the figures presented then in the General State Budget.
However, the housing problem has become entrenched.
In the hands of private landlords for the most part, this summer there was a general collapse.
The educational centers themselves were forced to post advertisements on their web pages warning foreign students that they could not guarantee their accommodation.
They were advised to cancel their registrations, or to postpone their studies for a year in order to find a house calmly.
For J.P.,
a Spanish engineering student enrolled in the VU, the situation has improved a lot, although the journey is not over yet.
He spoke to El PAÍS this July, and as then, he prefers to remain anonymous.
On the phone, he explains his journey: “I study in English and I have been in a hostel in Utrecht, then I found a house in Amsterdam, and in January I will move again until the rest of the course.
Then I'll start looking for a place for next year”.
In his opinion, “the big problem is if the flats offered by the universities themselves run out [this course there were not enough for everyone], and you stay out of those bags near the beginning of the course“.
He explains his journey: “I study in English and I have been in a hostel in Utrecht, then I found a house in Amsterdam, and in January I will move again until the rest of the course.
Then I'll start looking for a place for next year”.
In his opinion, “the big problem is if the flats offered by the universities themselves run out [this course there were not enough for everyone], and you stay out of those bags near the beginning of the course“.
He explains his journey: “I study in English and I have been in a hostel in Utrecht, then I found a house in Amsterdam, and in January I will move again until the rest of the course.
Then I'll start looking for a place for next year”.
In his opinion, “the big problem is if the flats offered by the universities themselves run out [this course there were not enough for everyone], and you stay out of those bags near the beginning of the course“.
Paul, a Dutchman and a Biochemistry student, is finishing his degree and first took classes in Delft.
He now follows them at the University of Leiden (about 16 kilometers away and well connected by train) and has not moved from the apartment where he lives in the first city with other students.
He prefers that his full name not appear, and assures: "it is better to travel between the two cities than to lose my room and then not find another one."
The lack of houses is also suffered by the natives, although they know better the shortcomings of the system and can start looking for accommodation with more time.
By the year 2030, the Dutch Cabinet expects to have built some 60,000 student flats.
Between 2022 and 2024, at least 37,500 modular and temporary homes must be ready to speed up the process.
Minister Dijkgraaf wants to take things easy because the presence of foreign students also has long-term positive aspects for the Dutch economy.
According to Nuffic's calculations, one in four graduates – inside and outside the EU – continue to live and work in the Netherlands five years after graduating.
About 75% of those who remain find employment in health, education or official institutions.
You can follow EL PAÍS EDUCATION in
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I'm already a subscriber