In Groningen and Maastricht, universities are actively promoting themselves in order to attract British students, and it seems as if this indeed has an effect on the amount of British admissions. Is this also happening in Rotterdam? Is the Erasmus University ready to embrace a new group of British students?
Why Holland?
But first, why would studying in the Netherlands be attractive for Brits? Most importantly, the costs of going to a university are about half as high as they would be in their own country. Additionally, 170.000 British students were unable to enter higher education in their own country this year, as the competition is getting fiercer. So studying in the Netherlands would have two major benefits: lower costs and a guarantee of admission. Since the increase of tuition fees in the UK, several British newspapers have been advertising for Dutch universities. About two weeks ago, the Guardian even headed with: ‘Unable to get into uni? Go Dutch, students are urged!’ It sure seems as if the Brits are ready to cross the Canal.
New students for EUR
Not only in Groningen and Maastricht, but also in Rotterdam, the increasing interest of British students in Dutch universities can be noticed. Jeroen Jonkman, from the EUR Educational Marketing department, stated: ‘Since we know of the increasing tuition fees in the UK, we have been promoting EUR through Google adverts in Britain. This has already lead to more requests for brochures.’
Win-win situation in Maastricht
Not only British students benefit from studying in the Netherlands, as Dutch universities are also heavily promoting to attract more Brits. Especially Maastricht University is eager to admit English native speakers, as it is now populated with a large majority of Dutch and German students. This causes some social problems for students of other nationalities, as their fellow students mostly speak either Dutch or German during breaks and outside of class. Maastricht University hopes that more English-speaking students would make socializing outside of school hours easier for internationals.
Groningen on BBC
The BBC even visited Groningen University to advertise for Dutch universities, where they interviewed a British student who had lived there for some time already. He mentions that costs of living and tuition fees are relatively low, and there is also the opportunity to obtain a study grant if you work for at least 8 hours a week. According to him, another plus of living with the Dutch is that you can find your way around without having to learn the language, as most of the Dutch people are fluent in English. IS
