If the international students stay away
Tens of thousands of international students fled the Netherlands at the beginning of March and are now taking online education from their home country. If the international intake stops for a longer period from 1 September, survival will be difficult for some colleges and universities.
image: XF\x26amp;M
In September, more than 38 international students started a bachelor's or master's degree in the Netherlands. More than ever. In total, more than 100 foreigners are now studying in the Netherlands. Or studied, because at the beginning of March tens of thousands left international the country to sit out the corona crisis in their home country. Student flats for which there were long waiting lists in September are now empty. Will they soon be inhabited again by the international students for which they have been booked, is the concerned question.
Dashing growth
Last year, the Education Inspectorate investigated whether there are universities and universities of applied sciences that run into financial difficulties if the flow of international students suddenly dries up. That seemed like a hypothetical question at the time. Over the past twenty years, the number of international students worldwide has increased from 1,3 million to 4,4 million. This turbulent growth was expected to continue for the time being. But nothing is certain since the corona crisis.
Universities and universities of applied sciences do not immediately collapse when internationalization comes to a halt, but the situation is worrying at twelve institutions, the Education Inspectorate noted. In academic education, one in five students comes from abroad, in higher professional education this is 6 to 7 percent of the students. But those international students are unevenly distributed. At universities, the share varies from 8 percent (Utrecht University) to 54 percent (Maastricht University). The differences are even greater at universities of applied sciences. In the independent teacher training colleges there is hardly any foreign student, while at the art colleges studied, 60 to 70 percent of the population comes from abroad.
Attraction
Because the institutions have financial buffers, they can absorb the first blow. But if the international influx stops for a longer period of time, survival will be difficult. The international learning environment, which is precisely the attraction for Dutch students, is also disappearing with the foreign students and the survival of programs is endangered.
Not every piano student has a grand piano at home
The buildings of the Royal Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague have been closed since 13 March. “Immediately after the closure, we started offering education digitally,” says head of internationalization Aparajita Dutta. The theory lessons are provided via Microsoft Teams and conservatory students receive their lessons one-on-one remotely. Their teacher watches and listens via Skype or another tool while they play their instrument at home. “That caused problems here and there, because not every piano student has a grand piano at home. But that has been solved because cultural institutions have come to our aid. ”
Bang
More than 60 percent of art students from The Hague come from abroad. “Many international students left at the beginning of March, who are now following online education from their home country,” says Dutta. She is not yet afraid that the study places cannot be filled next year. “The registrations are going well, we have just as many applications as last year. And we select on quality, in recent years only one in ten students has been admitted. ”
Normally, potential students come to the selection day in The Hague in April. “This year we are also doing the admissions online,” says Dutta. "For students who could not come to The Hague, the academy already did that last year. Participants were introduced to students and teachers virtually, did a group assignment and had a digital portfolio assessment."
Our main concern is: can international students be here on September 1?
The interest from abroad is also as usual at other universities and colleges. “There is no indication whatsoever that the number of registrations is declining,” says Emiel de Groot, policy advisor internationalization at the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. "Our main concern is: can international students be here on September 1?"
Travel restrictions
“Most universities do not see a decline in registrations from abroad,” says his colleague Willemijn Dicke of the Association of Universities (VSNU). “But we do expect a dip in the coming academic year. Because even if the travel restrictions are lifted on time, there will be students who will not study abroad due to uncertainty about their health and safety. ”
The Hotelschool The Hague, where around 40 percent of students come from abroad, is also preparing for an intake dip. Interest has been good so far, but the industry has been hit hard by the lockdown. “We are always dealing with at the show, but unfortunately we have to take into account that in these circumstances more admitted students will stay away than we are used to, ”says chairman of the board Regine von Stieglitz.
Influx
But it can also go the other way, says De Groot of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. “Maybe we will get a tremendous influx from countries like Italy and Spain where the economic consequences of the corona crisis are likely to be more drastic. We have also seen that effect after the euro crisis. ”
Long-term
If the pandemic persists, international students will from now on opt for the online programs that American and British universities already offer. “The group that is mapping the possible long-term effects will certainly take that effect into account,” says Willemijn Dicke of the VSNU. "Dutch universities are world leaders in developing online education, so in that scenario there could also be more international students."
Setting up an online program is more than putting lectures online
Wageningen University offers three online master's programs for people with a job who cannot follow a full-time program on campus. These are specialist programs that are not suitable for all international students who cannot come to Wageningen due to the corona crisis, says director of open & online learning Ulrike Wild. Wageningen has a lot of experience with designing digital learning processes through the development of these online programs. “You can't just switch”, warns Wild. "Setting up an online program is more than putting lectures online, which is now happening a lot in a hurry." Converting a study program to an online program requires a complete redesign, according to Wild. "You have to look at the learning goals, how online students learn and how you can use digital tools to support that learning."
Redesign
Wild is convinced that you can offer the same educational quality online as in a physical learning environment, but in this crisis teachers do not have the time to spend three months redesigning a subject. “That is why we will use the campus again as soon as possible. Ultimately, we have the richest learning environment there, with all digital and physical options. "
I strongly believe in online education, but not for higher vocational education
“I strongly believe in online education, but not for higher professional education,” says De Groot. “The strength of higher professional education lies in its practical orientation and the internships. The theory education can largely be done online, but there will always have to be room for physical contact in higher professional education. ”
Emergency solution
After the May holidays, the University of the Arts in The Hague hopes to carefully use the buildings again for the fourth-year students who have to graduate. “Under strict conditions and in consultation with the GGD”, says Aparajita Dutta. “We'll be fine now, but digital education is an emergency solution. Art education will never go completely online. You can still temporarily provide music education remotely, but that is not possible at all with dance. "
Therefore, Dutta can only hope that travel restrictions were lifted in August and that the global economic crisis does not keep international students at home. "Because if the admitted students stay away, we obviously have a big problem."
