For the first time in years, the number of registrations at the UG has decreased. As of October, the university had received 37,137 registrations, while last year, this number was 37.277: a 0.3 percent drop.
According to the university, this has to do with the immense increase of student numbers during the Covid pandemic. ‘During the pandemic, students didn’t have anywhere to go’, says spokesperson Anja Hulshof. ‘So it would seem that fewer people decided to take a gap year.’
That situation now appears to be changing for the first time. ‘People have the opportunity to work and travel again, which means gap years are back on the table. We also think the reintroduction of the basic grant plays a role.’ Anyone who starts next academic year, will have an annual basic grant of 440 euros.
More internationals
The number of international registrations has increased, by 5.4 percent. The UG currently has 9,925 international students, nearly 27 percent of the total student population.
The main drop in registration is at master programmes. There were 4,467 registrations for a master in Groningen this year; this is 603 fewer than last year. The uni received a total of 7,349 registrations for bachelor programmes this year, which is 136 fewer than last year. According to the UG, the decrease has happened at both bachelor and master programmes across all Dutch universities.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this article, the UG said it had received 38.290 registrations last year, but that was at a later point in the academic year.