Foreign Students at Dutch Universities Hit a Record High

As per recent reports published by Nuffic, Dutch Organisation for internationalisation in Education, currently there are around 115,608 international students in Netherlands, which is a 12% increase compared to last year.

Separate figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), also show that international students constitute about one-fourth of all undergraduates at Dutch Universities. As per Nuffic, the number of international students from Europe has increased at an exponential rate. 72% of international students in the Netherlands come from countries falling under European Economic Area. 

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German Students make up about one-fifth of the total international students in Netherlands. However, according to the report published by CBS, number of german students is decreasing, whereas international students from other European countries are on the rise.

The Report from Nuffic also states that UK Student numbers have also plummeted by almost a quarter. This is most likely due to Brexit as UK students are now required to pay non-EU fees which is quite substantial.

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However, Universities in Netherlands are urging the Government to impose suitable measures to check the number of international students. Ruben Puylaert, a spokesperson for the Universities of Netherlands has commented, ‘We see that for some degree programs, the and the workload manageable. This results in the quality of education being put under pressure for all students, both international and Dutch.’

Universities in Netherlands have appealed to the Government to allow them to have a maximum number limit for Non-EEA students for each degree program. The higher education institutions also requested the Government for setting up of enrolment quotas for English language tracks per degree programme.

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All these issues and concerns have been taken into consideration by Nuffic in its report on behalf of behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission. It has stated, “the [Dutch] cabinet is aware of the increased number of incoming degree students and in their coalition agreement they pay specific attention to offering policy guidance to manage the flow of international students.”

According to Titia Bredée, Director General of Nuffic, it is important to keep an eye on the challenges posed by growing number of international students. But it is essential to keep in mind that international students can play an important role within a tight labour market after graduation.

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