Foreign students in Amsterdam

Academic year 2024-2025:

Number of foreign students at the UvA is still increasing 
Number of foreign students at the VU is decreasing

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​Contrary to various reports (including in Het Parool of 14 November 2024 “Also at UvA fewer new first-years from abroad”), the total number of foreign students at the UvA continues to rise. Although the number of first-year bachelor students decreased slightly, the increase in first-year master students was greater, which increased the total number of first-year foreign students. 
A politically sensitive situation, because both the municipality of Amsterdam and the government have repeatedly urged the universities to reduce the number of foreign students. This is due to the pressure on the housing market, pressure on staff, the displacement of Dutch students and the Dutch language. The Schoof cabinet wants fewer foreign students and is forcing universities to accept fewer foreign students by already assuming this in the financing of the universities. This will lead to major cuts to the universities from 2025-2026.

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The numbers 
The number of international students at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) continues to grow steadily. In the academic year 2024-2025, 45% of first-year students will be international students. This year, the total number of international students increased by 8.16% compared to the previous year, which amounts to an increase of approximately 1230 international students. The total share of international students increased by 5.71% compared to the previous year. This marks a continuation of the trend in which the UvA further strengthens its position as one of the most international universities in the Netherlands and more international students are entering Amsterdam. The growth is mainly due to an increase in the number of international Master's students. Variations can be seen within the different student groups. 

Although the share of international students has increased significantly in 2024-2025 as a whole, the figures within the individual groups are more mixed. The share and number of international bachelor students has remained approximately the same compared to the previous year: in both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, 37% of bachelor students are part of the international community.

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However, the increase is seen among Master's students, where the total number of international students increased by 13.61%, and the share grew by 6.29%. This can be explained by a significant growth in the number of first-year international Master's students, which increased by 10.23%. In 2024-2025, no less than 55% of first-year Master's students at the UvA will be part of the international student body, which contributes to the overall increase in the number of international students in Master's programs.

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The total share of international first-year students (bachelor and master) has remained stable at 45% in 2024-2025, the same percentage as the year before. Among international bachelor students, there is even a slight decrease of 153 students in the number of first-year students, but because the total number of first-year bachelor students has also decreased, the share of foreign bachelor students remains at the same percentage of 40%.

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The 5.71% increase in the total share of foreign students is

explained by several factors. Firstly, there is a significant

growth in the number of international master students, which 
makes a significant contribution to the increase in the share of 
foreign students. In addition, the decrease in Dutch students

at the UvA plays a role, as a smaller number of Dutch students

increases the share of international students. Erasmus students

also play a role; these students are excluded from the figures

for first-year students, but they do contribute to the international

diversity of the UvA.

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Vrije Universiteit 
The other university in Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit (VU), is however dealing with a decrease in the number of international students. In the academic year 2024-2025 there will be a minimal decrease in the total number of students, however the number of international bachelor students has decreased by 23.5% compared to the year 2023-2024. The decrease in the previous year was 17%. The figures for master students are not known, but it is clear that the total share of international students will fall below 20% in 2024-2025. The VU itself indicates that they assess this decrease as negative; it worsens the international position of the university.

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More international students at the UvA will lead to financial problems 
The increase in the number of international students at the UvA is still putting extra pressure on the housing market due to the increasing demand for affordable housing. National measures have been taken and bills have been submitted to reduce this number. A bill by former minister Dijkgraaf is ready to be discussed in parliament, which mainly concerns reducing the share of English-language lectures at universities. The Schoof cabinet has not yet rushed to discuss it. However, an agreement was reached between the government and the majority of parliament in December 2024; this education agreement stipulates that universities will receive 147 million euros less government subsidy per year, based on the assumption that the number of international students will decrease. This means that if universities, especially the UvA, do not significantly reduce the number of foreign EU students by 2025-2026, enormous financial problems will arise. The Schoof government is playing it differently than the previous one, namely by intervening very hard in the financing of the universities.

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Background 

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Amsterdam's two universities ensure an increasing influx of foreign students to Amsterdam.

 

Since 2016, the number of foreign students in the city has more than tripled: from 6,016 in 2016-2017 to 20,971 in the 2022-2023 academic

year. In 2022-2023, 73,932 students were registered at Amsterdam universities. Of these, 20,971 come from abroad. In 2023-2024, the

total number of students at Amsterdam universities will have remained approximately the same. The influx of foreign students has fallen at the VU and has slightly increased at the UvA. This trend will continue in 2024-2025, see above.

 

In 2022-2023, the number of foreign students in the Netherlands increased by 6.3% compared to the previous year, to around 122,300 students. More than 75% of this was from the EU. The growth from the EU countries was greater than from outside the EU (CBS, 2023).

For the Amsterdam universities this was exactly the opposite; there the growth was greatest from countries outside the EU (see below).

The universities asked the government for “management instruments” to make the intake manageable; there is a lot of management now.

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From the EU (EEA) and from outside the EU (EEA)

 

EEA stands for European Economic Area; consists of the countries of the European Union plus Norway and Iceland.

The terms EU and EEA will be used synonymously in this study.

Students from EEA countries have access to Dutch higher education under the same conditions as students from the Netherlands.

The influx of bachelor students with a foreign previous education, especially from the EEA , has increased nationally by 29 percent (2021-2022 compared to 2020-2021). This seems to be a direct consequence of the Brexit treaty; As a result, EEA students could no longer easily enroll in British universities. 

Students from outside the EEA pay a significantly higher tuition fee, several thousand euros more.

Students from outside the EEA need permission from the IND.

Partly as a result of this, the number of British students in the Netherlands decreased by almost 25% in the 2021-2022 academic year – the first academic year after the Brexit treaty. (Ad Valvas April 13, 2022)

 

Top 5 by largest numbers of foreign students in the Netherlands 2021-2022

1. Germany     Has been like this for years; Maastricht is almost a German university

2. Italy

3. Romania    Is brand new; huge increase in Romanian students

4. China

5. Belgium

(from Ad Valvas Apr 13, 2022)

 

The main nationalities of non-EU-EEA students in the Netherlands

2021-2022

1. China

2. India

3. United States

4. Turkey

5. Indonesia

6. Great Britain (600 applications)

(From ZERO September 20, 2021) 

 

Short, shorter, shortest

The emergence of very short courses leads to more very short stays of students in Amsterdam. For example, bachelors of a semester and masters of six months are offered.

 

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Education in English

The Dutch universities have gradually switched to teaching in English.

Bachelor's programs are still mainly in Dutch (65%). Master's programs mainly in English (74%). (Factsheet from UniversitiesvanNederland.nl)

At the UvA, 80% of master's education is taught in English. (Folia 4 Dec 2019)

The argument for English-language education is that this would improve the quality of education, improve the connection with the international scientific debate and attract foreign students. But because the quality of English, both for teachers and students, is often low, the quality of English-language education is said to be low, according to various sources. English has been the official language at the universities of Twente and Eindhoven for several years now. (from: DUB 18-12-2019)

Many foreign students come to the Netherlands to learn good English here.

 

 

High contribution students from outside the EU

Universities do not receive a government grant for non-EU students, so they have to pass on the high costs to the student. For non-EU students, universities are allowed to set the rate themselves. In this way, they can become a revenue model for the institution and provide an incentive to attract as many non-EU students as possible. Both the UvA and the VU deny that this is the case. (Parool 23-12-2015)

Despite the high fees charged for non-EU students, these (especially for "expensive" studies) will never cover costs. In that case, the government still pays a considerable part, for example in the case of medicine.

Single rates for non-EEA students

VU - Bachelor's degree in law: 5500 euros/year

UvA bachelor's degree in law: 9,000 euros/year 2022-2023: 9,130 euros/year

VU – master of medicine: 15,000 euros/year

UvA - master of medicine 20,600 euros/year 2022-2023: 25,080 euros/year

(Source: Parool 23-12-2015 and overview UvA institutional tuition fees for non-EEA students 2022)

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University of Amsterdam (UvA)

 

The UvA has the largest number of foreign students of all universities in the Netherlands: 16,282 in 2024-2025.

This means that the share of foreign students at the UvA is 37%.

 

In the academic year 2023-2024, there were approximately 15,053 international bachelor's and master's students, now in 2024-2025 there are 16,282: an increase of 8.16 percent. The growth between the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 was approximately 20%, which shows that growth is decreasing. 

 

This decrease can be attributed to the number of international students starting a bachelor's program in 2024-2025; the number of international students from EEA countries has decreased by 8.5% and from outside the EEA by 6.8%. The slight growth in international students that can be seen is due to foreign master's students. In the previous year, 2023-2024, the share of international master's students was 32% and this year it is 34%. There is a growth in the number of foreign master students of 13.6 in the year 2024-2025 compared to the previous year.

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Total number of UvA students

2016-2017      31,019

2017-2018      31,588

2018-2019      34,067

2019-2020      35,387

2020-2021      38,940

2021-2022      41,206

2022-2023      42,171

2023-2024      43,008

2024-2025      44,005

Conclusion: growth of 41.9% in total number of students between 2016 and 2025

 

Share of foreign students

2016-2017      14%

2017-2018      17

2018-2019      21

2019-2020      25

2020-2021      28

2021-2022      31

2022-2023      34

2023-2024      35

2024-2025      37

Conclusion: more than doubled in 8 years, but growth is declining sharply

 

 

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Distribution of the share of foreign students by EU (EEA) and outside the EU (EEA)

                                EU-EEA               outside EU-EEA

2016-2017                  10%                            4%      

2017-2018                  12                               5

2018-2019                  15                               6

2019-2020                  17                               8                                 

2020-2021                  18                              10

2021-2022                  20                              11

2022-2023                  22                              12

2023-2024                  22                              13

2024-2025                  23                              14 

Conclusion: Growth from outside the EU is considerably higher than from the EU (three times as much versus twice as much).

This is remarkable, because it is considerably more difficult (residence permit, etc.) and more expensive for non-EU students to study at the UvA. (Figures from: UvAFactbook)

 

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Free University (VU)

 

Total number of students VU

2016-2017      22,312

2017-2018      22,773

2018-2019      24,200

2019-2020      26,593

2020-2021      30,008

2021-2022      31,700

2022-2023      31,761

2023-2024      31,949

2024-2025      31,351

Conclusion: growth of 40,5% in total number of students, between 2016 and 2025. Growth stagnated, and the number is now even decreasing.

 

Share of foreign students

2016-2017      7.5 %

2017-2018      9.4

2018-2019      11.7

2019-2020      14.1

2020-2021      13.9

2021-2022      17.3

2022-2023      18,6

Conclusion: more than doubled in 6 years

 

 

 

 

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Growth in the number of foreign students 2016 – 2023: 253%

 

As at the UvA, the greatest growth is in the proportion of non-European students.

 

The influx of bachelor's students with a foreign previous education, especially from the EEA , has increased considerably, by 37 percent. Nationally that is 29 percent.

This seems to be a direct result of Brexit, which means that EEA students no longer enroll at British universities. 

VU Master's degree programs are also popular with international students, who mainly come from outside the EEA . The number of enrollments of students with a foreign previous education is growing by 24 percent. The number of students with a Dutch previous education remains virtually the same, with an increase of 1 percent (Ad Valvas, November 4, 2021).

 

In the 2023-2024 academic year, the number of new bachelor's students will decrease sharply, by 20.9% compared to the previous academic year. This is a huge change with the 2021-2022 academic year. According to the VU, this significant decrease is due, among other things, to a limitation on the number of students studying Computer Science, by imposing a numerus fixus on this study. The number of foreign master's students did grow this year, by 5.7%, writes Jesper Roele in Het Parool (February 7, 2024).

 

 

Higher Professional Education

 

Higher Professional Education in Amsterdam consists of:

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences - HvA (44,564 students in 2023-2024),

Hogeschool InHolland Amsterdam (incl. Diemen - 6,967 students in 2023-2024)

School of the Arts (3,398 students in 2023-2024)

Rietveld Academy (with the Sandberg as post-academic programme - 851 students in 2023-2024)

Together a little less than 56,000 students.

 

The HvA and InHolland have relatively few foreign students. At the HvA in 2023 4.3% (2022 3.9%, 2020 3.6%) and at InHolland Amsterdam it will not be much higher.

 

Only the creative vocational courses, largely bundled in the Amsterdam School of the Arts, have many foreign students:

• Academy of Architecture: 270 students, of which 72 foreign = 27% : 40 from the EEA and 32 from outside the EEA.

• Academy of Theater and Dance: 592 students, of which 178 = 30% from abroad: 114 from the EEA and 64 from outside the EEA

• Dutch Film Academy: 404 students, of which 16 foreign students = 4%

• Conservatory: 1065 students, of which 645 = 61% abroad. 481 from EEA, 164 from outside the EEA.

• Reinwardt Academy and Breitner Academy: very low

 

In 2020, the Amsterdam School of the Arts had 936 students from abroad (29%), of which 664 from the EEA and 272 from outside the EEA

 

(Source: annual report AHK Amsterdam University of the Arts 2020 from their website)

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Consequences of the large influx of (foreign) students

 

The enormous growth in the number of students, especially in the number and proportion of foreign students, has major consequences for the university and the city:

 

For the university

• No more space, literally, physically. Lecture halls are packed, aisles are clogged, the canteen is full.

• Facilities insufficient for these numbers: libraries are full, office hours are running out, long waiting times for conversations with a teacher, etc.

• Dutch students are being supplanted by foreign students

• Workload of employees too high

• The quality of education and research is under pressure

 

For the Amsterdam housing market

• Major shortage of student housing;

• Expensive solutions for students with wealthy parents, such as student housing for 900 - 1200 euros/month and more (Student Hotel, Our Domain, etc.) and parents who buy housing for their student child.

• This leads to crowding out the housing market and upward pressure on rental and purchase prices.

• Abuse by landlords of rooms and collective housing by charging very high rents and failing to maintain homes

• Rooming and nuisance of homes with (too many) students

 

Economic consequences for Amsterdam

• Wide range of students who want to work part-time

• Many start ups by students after their education

• Large supply on the labor market of highly qualified young people

• Great potential on the labor market of internationally oriented young people

 

Cultural Consequences for Amsterdam

• Greater variety of cultures

• Stimulation of Anglophone cultural expressions

• Impulse for international youth culture

• Repression of Dutch, local and more traditional culture

• More crossover of different cultures

 

Social consequences for Amsterdam

Both the short-term stay and not speaking the Dutch language have major social consequences:

• Little or no social contacts outside their own student group.

• Little or no social responsibilities and agreements.

• One continues to live in one's own little bubble; does not become part of or contribute to the urban social fabric.

• People generally won't develop 'urban citizenship', so don't know about local politics, don't know what civil rights are, how the city is run, what the traditions are, how you can exert influence.

• One does not 'root'

 

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Measures

 

According to both the universities and the Municipality of Amsterdam, measures are needed to regulate the influx of foreign students.

 

In 2018, the Municipality of Amsterdam, through the then alderman Ivens, asked the universities to limit the influx of students.

At the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, the universities themselves sounded the alarm and urged the Minister of Education to take measures.

It is almost impossible for universities to control the influx of students from EU-EEA countries due to agreements in the EU-EEA context.

Refusing students is not allowed (AT5 November 4, 2021).

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At the start of the 2022-2023 academic year, the UvA and the VU implemented a 'deterrent policy' to ensure that foreign students are less likely to come to the Netherlands. For example, the Amsterdam universities warned international students not to come if they do not have a room a month before the start of the academic year (Parool, March 15, 2023). Many foreign students felt cheated because they had registered as a result of a UvA recruitment campaign (source: own interviews). In November 2022, Minister Dijkgraaf promised the House of Representatives to limit the influx of international students. He wants to combat the Anglicisation of Bachelor's programs and prevent the displacement of Dutch students. The minister said that with the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, a maximum of one third of the subjects in bachelor's programs may be taught in a language other than Dutch (NRC, June 21 2023). In the meantime, the Bachelor's program in Human Geography & Planning will be taught in English from 2023-2024.

 

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Measures are needed

 

UvA board chair Geert ten Dam reacted with shock: “If the ministry does not intervene, we will have to think about unconventional measures”, she said in Het Parool (June 15, 2022).

Since 2022, Amsterdam universities have no longer actively recruited abroad, writes Khaddari in Het Parool (September 2, 2023). There is an exception for sectors in which there are major shortages in the labor market. The UvA also highlights the room shortage in Amsterdam, thereby making foreign students aware, which may deter some.

 

In June 2023, Minister Dijkgraaf presented an amended bill 'Internationalization in Balance'. The aim is to restrict the offering of English-language bachelor's programs throughout the country. Because this cannot be introduced before the 2025-2026 academic year, the VVD submitted an amendment to the existing 'Higher Education Act' in January 2024. If this is adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives before summer 2024, this could soon come into force. Universities then have the option to impose a numerus fixus on English-language studies. ​

 

In the report 'State Commission Demographic Developments 2050', which was published in mid-January 2024, student migration is mentioned several times. She advises increasing the 'stay chance' of international students who come to the Netherlands. So that they can contribute to the Dutch economy. Now more than 80% of them have left within 10 years, writes Retera in Het NRC (January 18, 2024).

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The universities and higher professional education in the Netherlands are taking joint action to reduce the influx of international students. The association of Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) wants to take this seriously. No new English-taught bachelor's degrees are being developed for the time being and research is being conducted into whether English-taught courses can be transferred to Dutch. Universities have agreed that major bachelor's programs must also be offered in Dutch in addition to English. The Association of Universities of Applied Sciences will also soon come up with a plan to limit the influx from abroad (Het Parool, February 9, 2024).

 

The following measures were discussed last year:

• Offer less education in English:
  Now, February 9, 2024, there are clear plans for this through UNL and the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences.

• Charge much higher amounts to students from outside the EU-EEA

• Stop recruiting students abroad, especially from outside the EU:
  Amsterdam universities have no longer actively recruited abroad since 2022, and the UvA has a 'deterrent policy' in which it makes foreign students aware of the room shortage in Amsterdam.

• Numerus fixus on English-language studies (permission needed from the minister?):
  A bill and amendment have been submitted, if this is adopted, universities can impose a numerus fixus on courses from the academic year 2025-2026. Universities have taken measures themselves, they are not waiting for the law. The VU has introduced a numerus fixus on the Computer Science program and the UvA on the Bachelor's program in Psychology.

• Stop pre-training for foreign students.

OnCampus now offers preliminary training for 'undergraduate' students for UvA and HvA, so that they can still follow the UvA-HvA training. This preliminary training is followed by many Chinese potential students and costs at least 18,000 euros. OnCampus is affiliated with the Economics Faculty of the UvA; the IND is 'not amused' how OnCampus does not register EU-EEA students (source: Folia 23 September 2020)

 

 

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Jaap Draaisma, Amsterdam, June 17, 2022

Update: December 25, 2024