The University of Amsterdam cuts down on international student enrollment

The largest public university in the Netherlands - the University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam, UvA) - wants to experiment next year and reduce the number of foreign students. Formally, universities do not have the right to set such quotas, which is why the program received an experimental status. The quota for the admission of foreign students will be set for English-language courses in psychology and political science.

The purpose of the experiment is to find out if the maximum number of international students will lead to an increase in the number of students from the Netherlands. There is an opinion in society and the academic environment that a large number of foreign students reduces the opportunities for residents of the country. Indeed, at UvA, two-thirds of psychology students are foreigners. But whether they really affect the number of local students, it will be possible to say after the end of the experiment.

In general, the number of students in the Netherlands is growing, and the number of students from abroad is growing at a faster pace. Thus, over the past 5 years, the number of students at UvA has increased from 31.000 to 41.000 people. At the same time, the number of students from abroad has tripled over the same period, reaching 13.000 people.

Supporters of setting quotas for the number of foreign students argue that the possibilities of universities to admit foreigners have actually been exhausted. In addition, they refer to the fact that a large number of foreign students have a bad effect on themselves: there are problems with finding affordable housing, many of the foreign students feel that they are second-rate - they believe that they are treated worse than local residents.

In addition to the high quality of education, an important advantage of studying in the Netherlands is the legal way of immigration to this country and the EU as a whole. One of the activities of the company Nalog.nl is immigration assistance. Contact our specialists for a consultation!