Even more students go to university
If the omens don't deceive, more students will be coming to universities again in September. There are now five percent more registrations than last year around the deadline.
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In principle, prospective students must register for a higher education program before 1 May. That deadline has passed, so the institutions can now estimate how many freshmen they expect in September.
From about one hundred thousand registrations for bachelor's programs on the deadline of last year, that number has now risen to about 105 thousand registrations. So there will probably be another increase in the number of students at the university.
Usually a third of those registrations still drop out. Some will travel for a year anyway, others will fail their exams and international applicants sometimes choose to study in another country anyway. Last year, of the 100 registrations, 65 remained. In 2021, that would amount to 69 thousand first-year students in university bachelor's programs.
The comparison with last year is a bit difficult, because then the deadline was a month later due to the corona crisis: on 1 June instead of 1 May.
Don't grow with us
Universities and unions such as de AOb have observed for years that the money for research does not grow with the number of students, so that less and less money remains per student. That trend has therefore not yet reversed.
The number of international registrations is also higher than last year: about 40 thousand, and experience shows that 20 to 40 percent of that remains. Last year, the universities thought that those foreign students might stay away, given the corona crisis, but against expectations they came anyway.
In a conversation with journalists, Pieter Duisenberg, chairman of the VSNU university association, said yesterday that the universities would like to have more control over the influx of international students. They want to be able to determine a maximum number of international students, so that study programs are not overrun.
English
There is a bill for approval in the Senate to steer the internationalization and the Anglicisation of higher education in the right direction. It states that programs with a numerus fixus can offer two tracks: English and Dutch. Then they can put a fixus on the English-language track and Dutch-speaking students can always enter via the other track. For example, a numerus fixus would not be at the expense of Dutch students.
That does not go far enough, says Duisenberg. He wants more options for admitting or not admitting international students, also for programs without a numerus fixus. Incidentally, the bill is in the fridge, awaiting a next cabinet.
Universities are offering more and more English-taught programs, especially in the master's phase. If they fear the number of foreign students, they could also offer slightly more Dutch-language education. But they don't find a solution. The choice for English-language education sometimes has to do with quality and preparation for the profession, they say. They like internationalization, and even better if you know how to master it.
Also read: The situation is different in higher professional education. The universities of applied sciences are seeing a drop of nearly seven percent in the number of registrations.
