{"id":172856,"date":"2024-10-29T14:17:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T13:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172856"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:33","slug":"membership-in-student-associations-declines-due-to-slow-progress-penalty-and-housing-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/29\/membership-in-student-associations-declines-due-to-slow-progress-penalty-and-housing-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Membership in student associations declines due to slow-progress penalty and housing shortage\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Student associations have enrolled 170 fewer new members compared to last year. They attribute this to the looming slow-progress penalty and the high number of students living at home. \u2018Slut lists\u2019 are not thought to play a role.<\/p>\n

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The terrace of Laurentius during Eurekaweek.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

As it does every academic year, the National Chamber of Associations (LKvV) surveyed its 49 member associations on the number of new members they had registered. This turned out to be around 8,330, down from 8,500 last academic year.<\/p>\n

High student debt <\/h2>

According to the LKvV, the most frequently cited reason for the decline is the announced slow-progress penalty. From next year, students who take an extra year to complete their studies will have to pay an additional 3,000 euros in tuition fees. Many prospective students are already fearful of accumulating high student debt.<\/p>\n

Additionally, as more student houses are being sold and few new ones are being built, the housing shortage is severe, with increasing numbers of students staying at home with their parents. \u201cAn active student life that allows room for social development, volunteer work, leadership experience, and making friends is being discouraged on all fronts\u201d, the LKvV states in a press release.<\/p>\n

A study recently commissioned by the student organisation ISO confirms <\/a>these concerns. Financial worries are a reason for many students not to participate in activities that are not directly related to their study programme.<\/p>\n

\u2018Slut list\u2019 <\/h2>

This past March, news<\/a> broke that members of the Utrecht student association (USC) had created a PowerPoint presentation detailing the appearance and alleged sex lives of around thirty female society members, listing their names and phone numbers. This \u2018slut list\u2019 spread across the country via WhatsApp and Telegram.<\/p>\n

Did this not also have a negative impact on the associations\u2019 image and new member intake? LKvV president Wouter Oldenhof has seen no evidence of this. \u201cOur associations haven\u2019t mentioned it as a reason, including the Utrecht associations. Besides, it was mostly male members whose numbers declined this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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