Foreign student growth slows, British student total plummets

Growth in the number of international students attending courses at Dutch universities and colleges is beginning to flatten, according to research by the Nuffic institute.

Nuffic said on Thursday that 122,000 foreign students are in the Netherlands this academic year, a rise of 7% on the previous year, but well down on the 10-12% rises recorded over the past few years.

‘It is the first time since 2016 that year-on-year growth in the international student population has not been in double digits,’ said Nuffic researcher Saoradh Favier. ‘In addition, it is the lowest growth since 2014.’

The number of applications for the 2022-22 academic year were also virtually unchanged, after rising by 15% in the 2021-22 period, Favier said. Some 20% of all applications are from foreign students and 15% of the total student body is not Dutch.

The number of British students has plunged 42% when compared with the pre-Brexit era. Some 1,800 British students are taking a Dutch degree course at present. Britain is now in 17^th place in terms of international student numbers.

By contrast, the number of Ukrainian students has risen 47%. Most foreign students come from Germany.

Education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf recently announced a string of plans to try to reduce international student numbers and is considering making learning Dutch a requirement on some courses.

Last year a number of universities called on international students not to take up their places in the Netherlands unless they had found somewhere to live.