Universities registered about 60,000 new students last summer. Of the young people who obtained their VWO diploma last summer, 67 percent started studying at the university. ‘In recent years, this has been between 72 and 75 percent,’ according to Universities of the Netherlands.
Almost 108,000 first-year students started their studies at the universities of applied sciences. That is more than 5 percent less than a year earlier. Nursing is not popular, the number of new registrations there fell by almost 18 percent. The number of students who took the PABO to become a primary school teacher increased by almost 3 percent. Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf says in a response that he is pleased with the increase in the teacher training colleges. “Hopefully that continues. Society desperately needs those teachers.’
Control inflow
More than 85,000 university students come from another country, mainly in the European Union. That is about 7 percent more than last year, but the increase is leveling off. In several student cities it is difficult to find rooms for students from outside the Netherlands. ‘We have to control that influx in order to achieve a better balance in the education system,’ said Minister Dijkgraaf, who says he will soon be presenting proposals for this.
The universities expect the total number of students to increase in the coming years. About 340,000 people are currently enrolled at the universities, in five years’ time there will be about 400,000. The institutions then receive less money per student. ‘Student numbers are expected to grow again, which will further increase the workload of employees and put pressure on the quality of education,’ says chairman Pieter Duisenberg of Universities of the Netherlands.