More international students are coming to study at Dutch universities, partly driven by people choosing to leave the US amid the current political climate, according to broadcaster NOS.
Around 17,600 first-year students this academic year come from abroad, up about 6% on last year, according to provisional figures from the university association UNL and the association of universities of applied sciences (VH), news agency ANP reported.
Universities had agreed to admit no more than 16,766 new international students a year, so that internationalisation would not come at the expense of Dutch students or undermine the Dutch language.
The universities say foreign students are “more often choosing to study in Europe because of developments in the United States”.
NOS linked this to president Donald Trump, who has tightened visa checks, clashed openly with several universities and interfered with academic freedom since returning to the White House.
UNL said the rise in foreign students was good news in itself, because they mainly study technical subjects in a sector short of staff. “We badly need international talent, particularly in priority sectors such as technology,” UNL chair Caspar van den Berg said, according to NOS.
“At the same time, universities have agreed to cap international intake. That is why we are taking targeted extra measures.”
Several universities will cut the number of places on English-taught psychology, economics, business administration and political science courses so that they stay below the agreed maximum next year. National student union ISO said it opposes caps on places and that every student should be free to choose their course.
