Netherlands Proceeds With Plans to Reduce Int'l Student Numbers

The Dutch government is proceeding with plans to limit English-taught courses at universities in a bid to manage the influx of international students.

Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins has unveiled this week a proposal to reduce the use of English as the language of instruction at universities. He said that both international and domestic students need to invest in Dutch proficiency, Erudera.com reports.

According to the proposal, universities should teach at least two-thirds of bachelor’s programs in Dutch while those that wish to offer programs in a foreign language will have to meet stricter criteria. The bill known as the Balanced Internationalization Act, was initially presented by Bruins’ predecessor Robbert Dijkgraaf, but the new plan has tight requirements.

The new proposal will give universities more control over enrollment of students in English-taught language from next year, limiting how many students can secure a place in these programs. Additionally, it aims to save the Dutch government nearly €300 million.

Until now, universities could only enroll a certain number of students in English-taught courses if the same limit applied to courses taught in Dutch. However, starting in 2025, universities in the Netherlands will be permitted to set a fixed figure for English-taught courses, separate from Dutch courses.

"The large influx puts pressure on student housing, among other things, and creates overcrowded lecture halls and pressure on students," Bruins wrote to the House of Representatives.

At the same time, to curb the number of international students, fewer grants will be offered to the latter, while the increasing fees are expected to affect their decision to study in the Netherlands.

According to the latest Nuffic data, during the 2023/24 academic year, 128,000 international students enrolled at Dutch higher education institutions, amounting to 16 percent of the student population in the country, up from 14.8 percent in the previous academic year.

There were 6,613 more students compared to the previous year. However, it was the slowest annual increase in international student enrollment since 2014/15.

‘The declining growth is in line with the trend that started last year. Then, the growth rate was 7%, and now it’s down to 5%," Nuffic researcher Saoradh Favier said in a statement on May 28, 2024, when Nuffic published its research report on incoming degree mobility.

The largest increase was reported in students from Poland while the top three countries with the most students in the Netherlands are Germany (21,362), Italy (8,227), and Romania (7420).

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