UK students staying away after Brexit

International students are increasingly finding their way to Dutch colleges and universities. But less than a quarter of British students are enrolled this academic year.

Nuffic has determined the influx of international students for this academic year based on numbers from DUO. Previous statistics by universities and Statistics Netherlands confirm once again: Dutch higher education is very popular among foreign students.

The number of foreigners increased by 12 percent this academic year. About 115,000 international students are enrolled in a full study program in Dutch higher education. The majority (72 percent) come from Europe.

new top 3
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.

Britain’s exit from the European Union
Students from the UK have chosen much less often for a study program in the Netherlands since Brexit. 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.

Economic Studies
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%.

art courses
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.