Dutch universities take in more international students than their agreed maximum

About 17,600 international students started a bachelor’s programme at a Dutch university this academic year, according to provisional figures from Universities of the Netherlands (UNL). That is above the maximum of 16,766 new international students that the universities agreed among themselves.

Total bachelor intake rose by 3.5 percent compared with last year, and about 40,800 Dutch students started. After three years of decline, both the Dutch and the international intake are growing again, UNL said.

Most of the rise is in technical programmes

About two thirds of the overshoot comes from more international students in technical programmes. About 600 more international students started a technical programme than last year.

The international bachelor intake rose by 6 percent this year. A possible explanation, according to UNL, is that international students choose to study in Europe more often because of developments in the United States. The international intake is now slightly higher than in the 2024-2025 academic year, but still well below the years before.

Fewer places in some English-taught programmes

Because of the overshoot, the universities are taking extra measures to lower the international intake next academic year. Several universities have lowered the numerus fixus, the maximum number of places, for some English-taught programmes in psychology, economics, business administration and political science.

“We badly need international talent, especially in priority sectors such as technology,” UNL chair Caspar van den Berg said. He called the rise in technical programmes good news. “At the same time, universities have agreed to cap the international intake. That is why we are taking targeted extra measures to make sure the intake stays in balance.”

Fewer students overall

In total, 330,000 students are enrolled at Dutch universities, about 2,000 fewer than last year. The number is expected to keep falling in the coming years, despite the slightly higher intake this year. According to forecasts by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, it will drop to just over 300,000 in 2032.

The figures are provisional and rounded to hundreds. Intake here means students who had not been enrolled at a Dutch university before. Universities receive government funding for students from the European Economic Area (EEA), but not for students from outside the EEA, who pay the institutional tuition fee themselves.