More than 300 thousand university students
This academic year, the universities have more than 300 thousand students for the first time. One in five, 60 thousand students in total, came here from abroad.
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The VSNU university association reports this today. The number of first-years has grown and senior students have been registered longer. In total, the number of students has increased by 4 percent.
The bachelor's programs saw the intake of new students grow by 1 to 2 percent compared to last year. The number of VWO students remained roughly the same, so the growth can be attributed to international and HBO students. In total, the share of international students has increased from 19 to 20 percent.
harder
The growth in intake for master's programs is 3 percent. The fact that the total number of registrations (including senior students) is growing even faster is due to students who remain registered longer than before.
The VSNU does not yet know how this is possible. They may take longer to complete their studies, but it could also be that the universities are successfully combating dropout and fewer students drop out in the meantime.
VSNU chairman Pieter Duisenberg: 'Growth puts even greater pressure on our employees and finances'
There would be a "strong growth" in the number of students in the nature and behavior & society sectors. Law, economics and technology would also grow, according to the press release.
But the university association is not yet able to give details, because the counts still need to be checked and adjusted if necessary. The final figures will follow in February.
The university association takes the opportunity to argue for extra money. The growth puts “even greater pressure on our employees and finances”, says chairman Pieter Duisenberg.
Influx
The universities are again calling for “better control instruments” to control the influx of international students. The minister is already working on that. Among other things, it wants to make a numerus fixus possible for international tracks.
