UK students staying away after Brexit

The number of foreigners increased by 12 percent this academic year. About 115 thousand international students are registered for full study in Dutch higher education. The majority (72 percent) come from Europe.

As in previous years, Dutch higher education was more popular among German students. Italy is again second on the list of original countries and new Romania is in the top three this academic year. Followed by China and Belgium.

The largest growth can be seen in Poland, Spain, Romania, France and Greece. The number of European students increased by 14 percent, while the number of international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) increased by only 7.6 percent.

Since Brexit, students from the UK have much less often chosen for their study program in the Netherlands. Their number is down 24.3 percent this school year, the largest drop in the 100 largest countries of origin.

This most likely has something to do with Brexit in 2020. This is the first academic year that Britons are no longer part of the European Economic Area, which means they have to pay higher institutional tuition fees. This amount is often thousands of euros more expensive than “normal” tuition fees.

In higher professional education courses in the economic field attract most foreign students. Language and culture have the highest proportion of foreigners at 35.6 percent. In universities, programs are tense Liberal Arts and Sciences the krone by 46.3%.

In absolute numbers, the University of Amsterdam attracts the most international students. Fontys is the only university of applied sciences in these top ten.

The proportion of international students is the highest at Maastricht University: this makes up more than half of the student body (56.3 percent). Foreigners are also relatively well represented in Dutch art courses.