Provisional enrolment figures show reduced bachelor's intake

There are fewer new Dutch as well as international students. The umbrella organisation Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) announced this on Wednesday 12 November.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam recognises the national picture. The drop in the bachelor's intake is even larger than the national average. Master inflow remains almost the same. There are now roughly 30,500 students studying at the VU, which is about 1,000 fewer than last year meaning a three per cent drop. If we include enrolments of students enrolled at two institutions or programmes, the figure is around 36,000.

International students
The decline in the number of international students is also continuing unabated nationwide, much to the concern of both UNL president Caspar van den Berg, and VU president the Executive Board Margrethe Jonkman. The intake of students from Europe (EEA) is shrinking the hardest nationwide, by almost five per cent. "For the third year in a row, international intake is falling. To this we now add a decline in the number of Dutch students. For all the ambitions we saw in the election programmes, we need sufficient knowledge and talent. It is therefore urgent that a new cabinet makes a clear strategy on how we can continue to attract, train and retain that talent. Sufficient talent cannot only come from the Netherlands, we simply have too few young people for that," Caspar van den Berg said.

Margrethe Jonkman is also concerned about this ongoing development. Bachelor's programmes at the VU saw a 15 per cent decline, and master's programmes saw a four per cent drop in enrolments. In total, this amounts to a nine per cent decline in international intake. "For VU, international students enrich our education. Not only do they bring with them a different perspective on global developments, but students also learn to work together in an increasingly international environment and thus build an international network for later."
Causes
Causes for the decline in student numbers are caused by demographic changes resulting in fewer students taking VWO exams. Lower pass rates were also added last year. The decline in international intake lies, among other things, in the discontinuation of recruitment activities for international students in line with national agreements on the subject, the shortage of accommodation that international students are actively being made aware of and the discouraging policy pursued by the past government for international students.

Stable funding
UNL indicates that forecasts by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science show that the number of students will decline by almost 10 per cent over the next 10 years. This makes academic education the fastest shrinking education sector and this will be felt by all universities. VU Amsterdam therefore supports UNL's appeal to the new cabinet to opt for more stable funding for universities. Jonkman: "To continue offering high-quality research and education in the future, a different look at the funding of education is necessary."

Final enrolment figures will follow in spring 2026. The Universities of the Netherlands' post on the provisional enrolment figures can be read back here.