Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences want to stem the tide of international students in the coming years. The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (VH) are considering introducing a numerus fixus for English-language programmes.

The VSNU and the VH will submit an internationalisation agenda to the Minister of Education, Ingrid van Engelshoven. In this discussion memorandum, the universities suggest that an open and international character is one of the reasons why the Netherlands is considered to be a frontrunner in research and education.

The institutions also expressed concern for the challenges internationalisation brings and requested that extra measures be taken in the short term to redirect the influx of international students.

Numerus fixus

The VSNU and the VH describe several recommendations in the document, the most striking of which is a numerus fixus for English-language tracks. At the moment, a capacity reduction is only possible for entire programmes, which includes both the Dutch-language and English-language tracks. Radboud University currently has a numerus fixus for the entire psychology programme, for example.

Implementing a numerus fixus for just the English-language track would not impede on the accessibility of the programme to Dutch-speaking students.

Higher tuition fees

The higher education umbrella organisations also want to include ‘contribution to diversity’ as a criterion for Bachelor’s programmes with additional admission requirements. “This will help us manage our international student intake,” according to the memo.

Finally, the VSNU and the VH believe it should be possible to put an admissions stop on specific programmes and under specific circumstances for students who are not from the European Economic Area (EEA). They also propose raising tuition fees for this group of students.