There are no new ideas from The Hague, no radical interventions. In her Strategic Agenda for Higher Education, Minister Van Engelshoven comes across as calm. She does, however, advocate two changes in direction and she would like to save the smaller degree programmes.

‘No new ideas from The Hague for the time being,’ writes Minister Van Engelshoven in her long-awaited Strategic Agenda for Higher Education and Research, which came out today. She would rather ‘do what is required to bring greater calm and stability’. She wrote it to reassure people, she explains. ‘No one wants to be wondering: what have the politicians in The Hague come up with now?’

There is a good deal of turmoil in higher education, due in part to the Minister herself. She threw the cat among the pigeons when she transferred some 100 million euros from the general universities to universities of technology. It almost caused a rift in the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and her relationship with the universities reached an all-time low.

‘Higher education is accessible and of high quality, but it is reaching its limits’

She shakes this off. ‘Governing is also about taking responsibility and not just making sure that everyone likes you,’ she reflects. She still believes that the intervention was necessary. ‘Otherwise, young people wanting to study technology would come up against a closed door. No one was able to explain that to the public.’

She prefers to talk about her plans for the future. ‘We have excellent higher education and research in the Netherlands,’ she says. ‘It’s accessible and of high quality. That’s all well and good but it is reaching its limits. That’s why we need to strengthen the foundations of the system so that it will continue to be sustainable in the future.’

Excess pressure

According to the Agenda, the workload of lecturers and researchers is too high and students are also suffering from stress. ‘By opening the valve a little, we can remove the excess pressure.’

As a central theme, she would like to see less competition and more cooperation. Research universities and universities of applied sciences shouldn’t have to fight so hard for students. Instead, they should work together to make sure that students go to the right place.

And here’s where she does want to do something radical. Higher education funding is becoming less dependent on student numbers. Soon, it won’t matter so much whether there are lots of students or just a few. Universities will instead receive a higher ‘fixed sum’.

Small degree programmes

This could help solve the problems facing small degree programmes. ‘If society says that certain degree programmes must be retained no matter what, even if they attract few students, they’ll also need to receive sufficient funding. They shouldn’t have to fight each day for survival.’

An obvious case in point is Dutch Studies, which is beset by so many problems: student numbers are falling, research on the Dutch language and literature is threatened with decline, and the criticisms are pouring in. Does she hope to save Dutch Studies through her intervention?

Yes, she does have that programme in mind. But not just Dutch Studies, she’s quick to add. ‘There are other small, unique programmes that are important, such as modern languages.’

A ‘fixed sum’ is nothing new; universities are already getting it. But Van Engelshoven wants to give it more weight, and at the same time look at the historical legacy of the differences between the universities. Traditionally, some have been given more money than others. ’No one can explain it. We’re going to take another look at it,’ she says.

Criticism

While the plan could offer calm and stability, critics will undoubtedly argue that it is not enough. They say that the real problem is a lack of money. It’s not for nothing that the WOinActie protest movement is calling for an additional 1 billion euros.

In the Agenda the Minister also acknowledges – perhaps for the first time so frankly – that university funding has become tight because the money for research isn’t keeping pace with student numbers. But there won’t be any extra money now.

‘We need to be cautious about student selection and numerus fixus’

‘We can see that things are tight, but the money simply isn’t there,’ says Van Engelshoven. ‘There has been considerable investment during this cabinet period: an additional 400 million for universities and research on a structural basis, and money for the university infrastructure. That’s a big step in the right direction, but it’s true, it won’t be enough in the long run.’

Accessibility

And what does all this mean for students? One thing you can be sure of: if student numbers matter less, programmes will become more selective and won’t try so hard to retain their students. What will the Minister do to monitor accessibility?

But Van Engelshoven doesn’t believe for one moment that accessibility will be put at risk: ‘That shows a lack of trust.’ She wants to maintain accessibility, she says, because it matters to society as a whole. ‘The diversity we have now should also be reflected in higher education. That also means that we have to be cautious about student selection and numerus fixus.’

In the right place

In fact, she believes that education will become more accessible if research universities and universities of applied sciences have to compete less for students. ‘It gives more scope for helping students to decide what the best place is for them. It allows us to look from the student’s perspective. At present, there are some students at research universities who would actually be better suited to a university of applied sciences because of their more practical bent.’

Moreover, universities of applied sciences are predicted to shrink in the coming years; as the number of young people declines, they will gradually have to accept fewer first-year students. It would therefore be good if more students opted for universities of applied sciences rather than research universities.

Flexible

The advent of more flexible programmes, which higher education is currently experimenting with, should also improve accessibility. These are programmes in which you don’t have to earn 60 points a year and you can combine courses of your own choosing from different educational institutions.

‘You can view everything in negative terms if you want to. It’s about giving students the space to follow their own path’

The Strategic Agenda cites the example of a top athlete who enjoys flexible study, but it could be a solution for many more students. ‘Some suffer from chronic illness, which means studying at a different pace. Or they’re caregivers. You have to create space for that.’

You might think: the system of care is being dismantled and university study has been made more expensive – if this creates problems for young people, they can study flexibly. Is that really progress? ‘You can view everything in negative terms if you want to. It’s about giving students the space to follow their own path.’

Binding Study Advice

The Agenda says little about the role of binding study advice (BSA). At one time, the Minister wanted to lower the BSA standard because she believed that students were being sent away too readily. That plan came to grief in the Dutch House of Representatives.

According to Van Engelshoven, this ‘discussion’ has still helped and the universities are now thinking about the issue more effectively. ‘How can we ensure that the BSA doesn’t increase pressure, but helps with referrals?’ She therefore sees it as a good sign that universities want to ‘experiment’ with the BSA and she would like to offer ‘room’ in the laws and regulations for these experiments.

You could ask with some suspicion: how much more room do the universities need? They can already set standards from zero to sixty points in a student’s first year. Doesn’t extra room simply mean that they want to send weak students away in later years? No, says Van Engelshoven: it’s about the universities wanting to give students the benefit of the doubt so that fewer of them will be sent away.

It emerges repeatedly that Van Engelshoven doesn’t like distrust. She wants to radiate calm and certainly doesn’t want to anticipate possible controversy. Her message: ‘We’re doing what is needed.’

This article was written by Bas Belleman and Hein Cuppen of the Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau (HOP).