Universities in big cities may still be affected
Reduction of foreign student influx appears to have already been met
An event for international students. Photo: DUB
This spring, the coalition parties came up with a plan to sharply reduce the intake of international students in the Netherlands. However, last week, after negotiating long and hard with the opposition, those goals were softened. Instead of saving 293 million euros on foreign students in 2030, the government now intends to save 168 million.
The government assumed that there would be 20,000 more European students in the Netherlands by 2030 than now. Considering the new targets, that comes down to 19,000 fewer European students. Therefore, if the international intake remains as it is, the cutback has already been achieved.
EEA students
UNL, the association of Dutch universities, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science let it be known that they can follow this calculation, although the ministry thinks it is too early to make this calculation. The ministry prefers to wait for new predictions on international intake, which will come out next spring.
This year, the intake of foreign students has already dropped slightly, even though growth had been predicted. Fewer students are coming to the Netherlands, especially from European countries. That is exactly the group the government wants to spend less money on. After all, the government only funds European students. The government does not pay for internationals from outside the union, so it cannot cut costs on them.
Randstad and region
The outcome of the negotiations with the opposition does contain a snag for universities and colleges in the Randstad region (the largest conurbation in the Netherlands, Ed.). There will be stricter requirements for English-language education, but an exception for the region will be made. This has been agreed by Christian parties, JA21 and coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB.
The minister must now start working out that exception. If they are indeed allowed to continue growing in the region, they will have to shrink in the Randstad region. Otherwise, the cost reduction cannot be achieved.
How the international intake will develop remains to be seen. After all, the Internationalisation in Balance Act is coming as well. This new law is expected to reduce the number of English-taught programmes and therefore also slow down the international intake. The consequences of these measures cannot be foreseen yet, but perhaps the decline will be stronger than expected and this will result in tougher cutbacks.