The UG appears to be largely spared in a joint plan by Dutch universities to reduce the number of international students.
The umbrella organisation Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) sent a ‘self-regulation proposal’ to the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science on Wednesday. It’s an attempt by the universities to take control themselves, rather than wait and see what the consequences will be of the Balanced Internationalisation Act (Wib).
For Groningen, the impact so far seems limited. The UG had already discontinued its English-language medicine track, which attracted relatively few students. For now, pharmacy appears to be the only English-language track that is being cut.
Exception for psychology
Nationally, universities have decided to significantly reduce the number of English-language psychology programmes. This also seems to have little effect on the UG, as it mainly concerns universities in the Randstad conurbation that are converting their programmes. Additionally, universities that do offer an English-language track must introduce a numerus clausus (enrolment cap), which the UG already has in place.
However, universities will consult with one another on what the cap for psychology should be and how to coordinate it best. This to prevent a ‘waterbed effect’, where students flock to the university with the highest cap.
More measures
In addition to psychology, universities also want to introduce measures in economics and business studies. One large bachelor programme in economics and one in econometrics will be switched from English to Dutch, though it’s still unclear exactly where.
The universities have set one condition: the Toets Anderstalig Onderwijs (TOA – a test requiring a university to obtain permission to offer a programme in a language other than Dutch) must be scrapped. This would mean that existing English-language programmes would no longer need to undergo the test.
In return, the universities also want to introduce many measures to improve the Dutch language skills of both lecturers and students, and to increase the likelihood that students will remain in the Netherlands after graduation.
Fewer internationals
According to UNL, the entire package should lead to a nationwide reduction of more than 11 percent in international student intake compared to the 2022–2023 academic year (which was a peak year), leaving around 17,000 international first-year students.
There must still be room for tailored solutions, especially for universities in shrinking or outlying regions such as Groningen, Nijmegen, and Maastricht.