How do we make sure prospective students find us, choose a degree programme that suits them and get off to a good start? The new Programme Bachelor Enrolment focuses on what is needed to make that happen. Programme lead Mirella Kleijnen and programme manager Hayke Everwijn discuss the opportunities and what we will set in motion together.
Nationwide, fewer students are starting a Bachelor’s degree programme, and enrolment is also declining at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam). Reason enough to take action. A VU-wide task force examined where improvements could be made, tackling quick wins along the way. For bigger changes, there is now a plan built around six priorities. The Programme Bachelor Enrolment officially launched on 15 September. So, what is going to change?
You took an in-depth look at student enrolment. What stood out most?
Kleijnen: “That there isn’t one single button you can press. A great many departments, across both faculties and services, hold a piece of the puzzle. And that’s actually the good news: there are many different places within VU Amsterdam where we can make a difference to enrolment. But we do need to bring all that knowledge and those ideas together. That’s what we started doing in January 2026 with this task force, which included representatives from all faculties and services.”
Everwijn: “And that also shows you just how much is possible. We looked at the entire journey of a prospective student, from their first encounter with our information and guidance to their eventual enrolment. At every stage, there are opportunities to make things just that little bit better. Not from the perspective of one department, but really as VU Amsterdam together.”
Sitting back and doing nothing was obviously not an option. What could you tackle straight away?
leijnen: “There were several things we could improve immediately. Our communications, for example, with an additional campaign and more attention to ensuring consistently high-quality information events.”
Everwijn: “Other things, of course, can’t simply be changed halfway through an application period. Those were incorporated into the enrolment plan approved by the Executive Board in July. It sets out six priorities that we are now addressing through this programme.”
Kleijnen: “And they cover quite a range: increasing awareness of VU Amsterdam, better understanding how prospective students experience their decision-making process and preventing students from dropping out. But also communicating in a warmer and more consistent way, making application and enrolment easier, and improving collaboration within VU Amsterdam.”
You’re tackling the entire journey, from start to finish.
Everwijn: “Exactly. It starts with making sure prospective students know VU Amsterdam and can find us. That’s why we’re stepping up our campaigns, our links with secondary education and our online visibility. That last part in particular has really changed: students used to browse programme pages; now they ask their favourite chatbot what might suit them. VU Amsterdam needs to show up there too, of course.”
Kleijnen: “Ultimately, what prospective students mainly want is a clear picture of a degree programme. Parents and friends still play a role in that, and there is still a need for accessible, personal contact. That, in fact, hasn’t really changed.
And once a student chooses VU Amsterdam?
Kleijnen: “Then the route to actually getting here should be as easy as possible. Visiting an open day, applying for a programme: we don’t want anyone dropping out along the way because of unnecessary or outdated steps.”
Everwijn: “And our communications need to work too. Rather than thinking from the perspective of different departments, we need to think from the prospective student’s point of view: what does this student need from us at this particular moment?”
So making the right choice doesn’t end with enrolment.
Everwijn: “Exactly. Even after they start, students continue to ask themselves: is this programme really right for me? That’s why we’re also looking at how we can support students with that question and prevent them from dropping out. We’re also investigating why some prospective students ultimately decide not to choose VU Amsterdam.”
What do you hope this programme will set in motion within VU Amsterdam?
Everwijn: “Above all, we want people to realise that VU Amsterdam’s appeal and enrolment belong to all of us. They are our foundation, our lifeblood. They are our foundation, our lifeblood. We can’t simply look to marketing to take care of that. Every VU Amsterdam colleague contributes to how students experience VU Amsterdam: through good education, high-quality information and guidance, genuine contact with students or stronger links with secondary education. This programme helps us do that, but ultimately, we all have to make it happen together.”
Kleijnen: “Exactly. We’re proud of VU Amsterdam! And we could show that more. Not just to prospective students, but through our students and staff as well. In the end, they are our best ambassadors.”
What are you most looking forward to now that you’re getting started?
Everwijn: “For me, it’s making progress in how we work together and genuinely looking at things from the student’s perspective. And we need our students themselves to help us do that!”
Kleijnen: “Putting the puzzle together! I love a challenge and bringing people together. Last year really showed us how many interdependencies there are in the system. The question now is: how do we make sure that machine runs smoothly? That’s still quite a challenge.”
You both know how difficult choosing what to study can be. Did you know exactly what you wanted when you were eighteen?
Everwijn: “Ha, absolutely not. I’m not very good at making choices: there are just so many interesting things out there. In the end, I more or less randomly chose Educational Science at the University of Twente. Mainly because it was far from home, so I’d definitely have to live in student accommodation. In my second year, I started having doubts. When I mentioned this to my mentor, their only response was: ‘Well, then you should just quit.’ But I actually liked the programme, and my doubts were about something else. If that conversation had gone differently, I probably would have stayed. In the end, I transferred to Radboud University, where I had a great time too.”
Kleijnen: “Well, I’m a bit of a nerd, so I’d planned my study choice down to the last detail. I started exploring my options in the fourth year of secondary school and eventually chose Economics and Business Economics. At first, I really wanted to work with young children and was looking more in the direction of psychology. In the end, I chose a different path. But when I look at what interests me now – how people learn and develop – perhaps I haven’t ended up quite as far from that original idea as I thought at the time!”
Finally, imagine we speak again a year from now. What do you hope students will tell you?
Everwijn: “That students who started at VU Amsterdam say they felt welcome throughout the entire process of choosing their degree. That the transition was a big one, but that they felt seen and supported along the way. And that studying is certainly challenging, but that it matches what we told them beforehand.”
Kleijnen: “I’d love to hear that VU Amsterdam really was their first choice. And above all, that once they’ve made that choice, they feel they belong here.”
