Agreements on international students now officially formalised

On Wednesday, higher education institutions and education minister Letschert signed the administrative agreements on the intake of international students. The previously agreed ‘self-regulation’ will therefore be continued.

When the previous cabinet wanted to take strong measures on the internationalisation of higher education, the universities and universities of applied sciences came up with a counter-proposal: what if they themselves balanced the international intake? That was called ‘self-regulation’.

The new cabinet is less hostile towards internationals. But the recruitment of international students must be targeted: more may be admitted in shrinking regions, as well as in shortage sectors such as engineering, healthcare and education. Allowing more international students in one sector or region means there is less room in others.

The agreements on this are now anchored in an administrative accord with the minister. But the universities and universities of applied sciences remain responsible. “The parties are working from the trust and certainty that universities of applied sciences and universities have committed themselves to the implementation”, the agreement states.

Numerus fixus

The thirteen universities want, as previously promised, to admit no more than 16,766 international students each year. Each has its own target, but these are not public.

The much-discussed numerus fixus on bachelor’s degrees in psychology remains in place. Numeri fixi will also be introduced for a number of, unspecified, large English-language bachelor’s programmes, and no new funded English-language bachelor’s programmes will be set up for the time being.

Maximum

The universities of applied sciences set a limit only on the number of international students in the economic domain (excluding hotel schools). Institutions can, however, shift places between themselves as long as the overall total is not exceeded.

In addition, the universities of applied sciences and research universities promise to work on increasing the likelihood that international students will stay after their studies, for example by investing in Dutch language lessons and better preparing internationals for the Dutch labour market.

Evaluation

The institutions and the minister will evaluate whether the agreements are working each year. Should developments in society or politics give cause to do so, the agreements can be adjusted under the supervision of the ministry of Education.

In exchange for these agreements the minister promises to completely remove the language assessment for non-Dutch-taught programmes from the Internationalisation in balance bill. With that language assessment the minister could limit the number of English-language programmes. The previous cabinet had already largely shelved the assessment: it would only apply to new programmes. But now universities and universities of applied sciences can also decide for themselves what the language of instruction will be for new programmes.

Backroom dealings

Student organisations ISO and LSVb said they are annoyed that they were not involved in the administrative accord. They criticise its backroom character: “The discussion about internationalisation is being pulled out of the public debate. We are very critical of this”, says Evy Kras of the LSVb. They would like to join the annual evaluation.