UU staff members concerned about drop in applications

“Things are definitely more nerve-wracking this year,” said Bert Klein Gebbink, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science, at the Faculty Council meeting this month. After years of accelerated growth, the faculty is now facing a decline in interest from undergraduate freshers. And the trend goes on in this year’s application figures. Shortly before 1 May, the application deadline, he had to announce that around 5 per cent fewer people had applied to pursue an undergraduate degree in the STEM sciences in Utrecht.

Klein Gebbink emphasised that application figures always come with many caveats. After all, it takes months for the faculty to be sure if the applications will actually lead to enrolments. International students often apply for multiple courses, and local students opting for programmes with an enrolment cap often also apply for other programmes just to be on the safe side. As a result, the actual number of students is determined in October, after tuition fees have been collected.

However, according to the vice-dean, it is clear that the Faculty of Science is being overtaken by demographic trends faster than anticipated.

Fewer young people
After all, student numbers are not declining in Utrecht alone. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science predicts that the number of university students will fall by 10 per cent over the next 10 years, to around 304,000. The main reason for the drop is that there are simply fewer young people in the Netherlands. The number of international students is also expected to decline. Consequently, higher education is the fastest-shrinking sector of education, according to the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the association of Dutch research universities. 

This drop will reduce universities' income, as Dutch universities receive government funding based on the number of students they enrol. “The battle for Dutch students has begun,” said Vice-Dean Klein Gebbink at the faculty council meeting.

The national picture regarding this year’s application figures is not yet known. A spokesperson for UNL says they do not wish to comment on this matter due to the uncertainty surrounding it.

Increased concern
In any case, UU administrators are concerned about the trend. The university has observed a 3 to 5 per cent decline in applications, with particularly sharp drops in the Humanities (-18 per cent) and Earth Sciences (-12 per cent).

In 2027, UU is expected to see its total student population drop for the first time. By then, the university will have just under 38,000 students. The Executive Board now believes that the forecasts for the years to follow may have been on the optimistic side, which is particularly dangerous for smaller degree programmes, as a decline in student numbers could also affect the size of the teaching staff or even lead to their closure.

This is the opposite of what the university went through in recent years. During the pandemic, UU feared the total student population would grow to over 40,000. The accelerated growth in the student population led to problems with the availability of teaching spaces. 

“We will need to pay more and more attention to this trend over the next few years,” reads the draft of a section of the university’s annual report for 2025, which was shared with the University Council earlier this month. As previously reported, the expected drop in student numbers is one of the main reasons the university is cautious about budgeting.

New degree programmes
Meanwhile, degree programmes are taking strategic steps to remain attractive to students. For instance, the Faculty of Science is working on a broad-based bachelor’s degree in the natural sciences that will bring together aspects of Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. A recent survey indicated that high school students in the Netherlands are interested in such a programme.

The transition plan with which the Faculty Board of Humanities aims to reform the faculty's programmes and launch at least one new programme should also serve to increase its appeal to new students. This was stated by the Faculty Board this spring in response to concerned faculty council members. Critics of the plans launched a petition expressing fears that such an interdisciplinary approach would make the programmes less interesting.

Recruiting again
The university also needs to get back to the basics when it comes to marketing its programmes, Vice-Dean Klein Gebbink believes. “We need to get out there again,” he said.

And that's exactly what will happen, according to a university spokesperson. UU is currently working on a new marketing strategy to attract more students, with international recruitment as an important part.

Over the past few years, international marketing has been mostly on hold due to criticism from politicians and society, who were concerned about the rising number of international students. According to Utrecht University, this is evidenced by the lagging number of applications from outside the European Economic Area.

The new recruitment tactics will focus on international Master’s students, as Dutch universities have made agreements with the government to limit the intake of Bachelor’s students as much as possible.