Dutch universities are attracting fewer students from both home and abroad

This academic year, the number of first-year bachelor's students at Utrecht University has dropped by 5 per cent. UU has seen a decline in first-year students from pre-university education and abroad, which have dropped by 8 and 4 per cent, respectively.

At the master's level, UU has seen a 3 per cent increase in first-year students, but the influx of international students has decreased by 4 per cent at the master's level. This means that the total number of first-year students has dropped by 1 per cent in 2024-2025.

These are provisional figures. The final figures are expected in early 2026. UU expects the total number of students to continue to decline slightly over the next few years.

Decline in international students
The number of international bachelor's freshers at Dutch universities has dropped for the third year in a row. The decrease is led by European students rather than students from outside the European Economic Area. Last year, the number of European freshers at Dutch universities dropped by 9 per cent; this year, it dropped further by almost 5 per cent. However, the number of Dutch first-year bachelor's students has also declined this year: enrolment of local students fell by approximately 3.5 per cent nationwide. At Utrecht University, one in seven students comes from abroad. That is 12 per cent of the UU student body.

If we count all students, not just freshers, there are now 332,000 people studying at Dutch universities. That's over 6,000 fewer than last year. According to forecasts by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, this number will continue to decline in the next few years.

Stable funding
Caspar van den Berg, chair of the umbrella organisation representing Dutch universities, is concerned about the declining intake. "It is urgent that the new cabinet develops a clear strategy on how we can continue to attract, educate and retain talent." He underscores that this talent cannot come from the Netherlands alone: "We simply don't have enough young people for that."

The declining number of students, combined with the austerity measures of the outgoing cabinet, is putting universities under pressure. In the Netherlands, government funding is tied to the number of students, so fewer students mean less income. UNL expects this situation to lead to more course cancellations and halted research projects. According to Van den Berg, universities need "more stable funding", so that institutions become less dependent on the number of students they are able to attract.

Universities of Applied Sciences
In higher professional education, the influx of new students remains virtually stable this academic year, according to figures from the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. The number of bachelor's students is falling slightly, particularly in technical bachelor's programmes. However, associate degrees and master's programmes at the university of applied sciences level are attracting more students.