Explosive increase in advance registration

Causes: Covid and Brexit

Explosive increase in advance registration

The number of students at the UG might just get out of hand next year. At some faculties, the number of advance registrations has even doubled.
15 February om 13:20 uur.
Laatst gewijzigd op 15 February 2021
om 17:28 uur.
February 15 at 13:20 PM.
Last modified on February 15, 2021
at 17:28 PM.
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Door Christien Boomsma

15 February om 13:20 uur.
Laatst gewijzigd op 15 February 2021
om 17:28 uur.
Avatar photo

By Christien Boomsma

February 15 at 13:20 PM.
Last modified on February 15, 2021
at 17:28 PM.
Avatar photo

Christien Boomsma

Christien is sinds 2016 achtergrondcoördinator bij UKrant. Ze plant de achtergrondverhalen en begeleidt de auteurs. Bij haar eigen verhalen ligt de focus op wetenschap en academisch leven. Daarnaast schrijft ze veel over onderwerpen als sociale veiligheid en maakt ze graag persoonlijke interviews. In haar vrije tijd schrijft ze jeugdboeken en geeft schrijftrainingen.

‘It’s worrisome’, rector magnificus Cisca Wijmenga said during the university council committee meeting last Thursday. ‘We wouldn’t really be able to handle this many students.’

In comparison to last year, the number of advance registrations has increased by 25 percentage points. At several faculties, like the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Economics and Business, the number of advance registrations has nearly doubled. 

‘British variant’

During the committee meeting on education and research, Wijmenga referred to the situation as ‘the British variant’. The increase is partially due to Brexit, which means students who were originally planning to attend a British university are now registering at the UG instead, and the corona pandemic, which has led to students immediately going to university after high school rather than taking a gap year.

‘These numbers change every day of course, and it’s difficult to say what’s going to happen as long as they’re not definitive’, said the rector. Students often register at several universities at once, and it’s impossible to predict which institute they’ll ultimately pick. 

In spite of that, the growth is certain, says Rutger Klein-Nagelvoort, director of education at the Office of the University. ‘Even if only half of these students end up enrolling, it’s still too many.’

Financing

Other Dutch universities have seen a similar increase in the number of advance registrations. That’s an issue, because if the UG’s share of students remains the same, the university will not receive extra financing. In the meantime, work stress is is increasing exponentially due to a combination of the corona pandemic and the unexpected increase in student numbers from last year.

Wijmenga called the situation ‘truly terrible’. ‘Our minister isn’t making any moves on this. We don’t know what the government will look like next year either, but I’ve got no hopes for the short term. I don’t think we’ll be getting any compensation for this. It’s a wicked problem.’

Dutch

15 February 2021 | 15-2-2021, 17:28
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