The move comes after years of promoting the Netherlands as an attractive destination for international students, a strategy that has inadvertently led to challenges such as housing shortages and limited course accessibility for local students due to the surge in international enrollments.
At least 14 universities across the Netherlands have unanimously agreed to prioritize the enhancement of Dutch language skills among both students and employees in a bid to address the challenges posed by the influx of international students.
The decision, reported by NL Times via Schengen Visa, signifies a paradigm shift as universities express their intention to refrain from developing new English-language programs in the foreseeable future.
Some institutions are considering transitioning existing programs entirely to Dutch, the report said.
Amid this shift, recruiting international workers is no longer actively promoted, with exceptions granted only for sectors facing severe labor shortages.
Jouke de Vries, chairman of the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), pointed out the association’s dedication to addressing any challenges arising from this new directive.
De Vries acknowledged that while internationalization is valued, recent social and political discourse has highlighted the need for a reevaluation of language policies.
“On the one hand, we stand for internationalization, but we also see that social and political questions are being raised about the model we had,” he said.
Challenges and measures in managing influx
The move comes after years of promoting the Netherlands as an attractive destination for international students, a strategy that has inadvertently led to challenges such as housing shortages and limited course accessibility for local students due to the surge in international enrollments.
Recent data indicated a slight decline in the number of international students arriving from overseas. While De Vries suggested that this trend may indicate a natural resolution of the issue, universities are actively seeking additional measures to manage the influx effectively.
One such measure under consideration is the imposition of a maximum cap on the number of students admitted to English-language programs, a proposal included in a forthcoming bill spearheaded by Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf.
UNL views this measure as “crucial” in regulating the influx of international students.
Trends in international student enrollment
First-year international student enrollment in bachelor’s programs at Dutch universities is declining after a period of growth, according to a recent report by Erudera. There is a decrease of 220 international students in undergraduate courses in the Netherlands over the past year, bringing the total to 18,594 which comprises 31 percent of new admissions.
This decline is attributed to government measures addressing the housing crisis.
Similarly, there’s been a significant drop of over 1,700 international students pursuing master’s degrees for the first time in Dutch universities in 2023 compared to the previous academic year.
Domestic student numbers have also fallen by about 900 students over the same period.
Despite these challenges, the Netherlands remains a top global study destination, with 122,287 international degree students enrolled in higher education institutions during the 2022-23 academic year, constituting 15 percent of the total student population.
Moreover, in 2023, nearly 40 percent of first-year students at Dutch universities came from other countries, a notable increase from 2015.
In 2022, over 100,000 international students came to Dutch colleges and universities, with more than 42,000 starting their education in the Netherlands for the first time.
Global interest in Dutch higher education
The surge in international student enrollment has outpaced domestic student growth over the past sixteen years, indicating increasing global interest in Dutch higher education institutions.
The total count of international students reached 115,000 in 2021-22, a 3.5-fold increase from 2005-06, with 80.4 thousand at universities and 34.8 thousand at universities of applied sciences.
In recent years, the majority of international students in the Netherlands originated from European countries, constituting 76 percent of the total in 2021-22, up from 63 percent in 2005-06.
Additionally, there has been a noticeable rise in Asian students, with over 19,000 enrolling in Dutch universities in the 2021-22 academic year, including more than 5,000 from China and over 3,000 from India.
Academic preferences among international students have shifted towards bachelor’s degrees since the 2017-18 academic year, with journalism, behavior, and society courses emerging as the most sought-after disciplines in the 2021-22 academic year.
