Study in the Netherlands? There are many reasons for this, especially for Germans. The neighboring country has an excellent education system and is internationally networked. Courses that are of particular interest to foreigners – such as international relations or psychology – are often offered in English, in high quality, for reasonable tuition fees. Unlike in Germany, there are no access restrictions on grades in the trend subject of psychology. In addition, the Dutch are mostly easy-going and cosmopolitan. And all the pretty cities: Maastricht, Utrecht, Leiden, Groningen, Delft! Not to mention the temptations of Amsterdam.
Word got around. So much so that the 14 Dutch universities and various technical colleges are now being overrun by foreigners. Their number has doubled in the past eight years to 115,000 out of 340,000 students, 25,000 of whom are from Germany. In the past academic year, 40 percent of the freshmen at the universities came from abroad. A quarter of the Dutch bachelor’s and even three quarters of the master’s courses are now taught purely in English. Almost all doctoral theses are written in English.
This has been criticized for a long time, from almost all political camps. The rush is at the expense of the locals, it is said. Many universities complain that lecturers are overburdened, lecture halls are full to capacity, and there is a lack of accommodation. In some places, students have had to sleep in tents. It also exacerbates the already existing housing crisis.
Now the government finally wants to intervene. In itself, it is positive that the country is so attractive for foreign students, wrote Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf in a letter to Parliament. The economy and society also benefited from this: “The Netherlands is not an island.” But you’ve lost a bit of control. “In addition to the gas pedal, we need a brake and, above all, a steering wheel.” At the beginning of the year, the physicist said that the “maximum” of international students had been reached.
It should be controlled primarily through language. Dutch must remain the main language at universities, says Dijkgraaf, which is why it should become more difficult to deviate from it in the future. The guests from abroad are asked to learn more Dutch again. In future, it should be possible to impose upper capacity limits for non-Dutch-language offers in individual subjects. Non-European students should be able to be kept away via “emergency restrictions” if courses fill up too quickly.
Quotas for students from abroad would be illegal under EU law
So far, these are all just plans and suggestions. A law is not to follow until the summer, by then the minister wants to make agreements with the universities. There is talk of “custom work”. Also because the universities have different interests. Some on the outskirts would like more students, while others are already overcrowded. A call from Dijkgraaf and many politicians to stop the extensive and successful advertising for foreign students was only partially heeded. The basic problem remains that the universities get more money from the state the more students they attract, no matter where they come from.
It would not be easy for many universities to get rid of the spirits that summoned them anyway. There are good reasons why students in the EU are free to choose where they want to go. Politicians and universities could quickly file a lawsuit for discrimination if they go about their work carelessly with restrictions. Most universities are therefore waiting to see what the law will say. The University of Amsterdam, on the other hand, has already pushed ahead. Instead of introducing quotas for natives and foreigners, which would be illegal, there is now a fixed salary in psychology with 260 places in the Dutch-language offer and 340 in the English-language offer. In addition, guests who have no accommodation are asked to stay away.
The lawsuit by the universities that their hands are legally tied is aimed at the government, which has taken an extremely long time to act. Five years ago, the ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit by the Better Onderwijs Nederland (BON) group, which accused the universities of Twente and Maastricht of simply acting illegally with their many English-language courses, caused a stir. Dutch is unequivocally defined in the law as the language of instruction and examinations, with narrow exceptions that by no means justify so many courses in English.
Dutch students and teachers might not be able to express themselves nearly as well in English as in the native language in which they think, argues BON. That harms not only science, but also democracy. Bachelor courses should therefore only be offered in Dutch, says BON representative Felix Huygen. Then foreigners will be welcome again.