Introducing a US-type campus system at Dutch universities would help cut their high drop-out rate, according to a new report by the education council.

The current system of spreading student accomodation throughout the city is old-fashioned and does not give students a feeling of belonging to their university, the council said in its report ‘A successful start in higher education’.
Some 25% of university students and 30% of tertiary college students drop out during their first year. The cabinet wants to halve this percentage by 2014.
The report also backs the introduction of what it calls ‘university colleges’ which are smaller campus-based institutions. Students at these sort of institutions in Utrecht and Middelburg feel more attached to their college and are less likely to drop out, the report says.
Education minister Ronald Plasterk described the recommendations as ‘interesting’.
The minister said he would like to see better help for school leavers when deciding what subjects to study. ‘If you make the right choice, you are better motivated to complete your education,’ he told Friday’s Volkskrant.