Long-awaited legislation to reduce the number of international students at Dutch universities and to encourage those who come to learn Dutch, has finally been published.

The draft bill has already been through an extensive consultation process and was sent to the lower house of parliament by education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf on Monday,

Dijkgraaf himself said on Monday that the debate about the role of colleges and universities in the Netherlands should not become entwined with general efforts to reduce immigration. Some of the parties involved in talks on forming a new government want to impose an absolute limit on the number of new arrivals, including students. 

The legislation will make it possible for universities and colleges to stop admitting students from outside the EU for certain English language courses. It will also allow universities to put a total cap on numbers for popular courses.

In addition, universities and colleges cannot introduce any more English language courses without the express permission of the minister. Universities will also be required to boost Dutch language skills among all students, including those from abroad.  

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The new legislation, Dijkgraaf told the Volkskrant in an interview, will give colleges and universities sufficient means to manage the number of non-EU students on some courses, while taking into account the needs of specific regions such as Eindhoven and Limburg, which need international students. 

The Netherlands, he said, can learn from the example of Denmark, which reversed tough controls on international students after 2.5 years. “We don’t want to accelerate, brake and then accelerate again,” he said. “That is the lesson we have learned from Denmark.”

The legislation, the minister said, will not change the Dutch reputation as an international, knowledge-based economy and is flexible enough to deal with geopolitical developments. 

“But it will be important that universities can argue why they want to offer courses in other languages,” he said. “Just wanting to get bigger is no longer legitimate.”

Student body

There are 122,000 international students currently studying at a Dutch university, three and a half times as many as in the 2005 academic year and around 15% of the student body is not Dutch.

Over 93,000 of them are EU or EEA nationals and 21,000 come from Asia. 

Fewer international students started a bachelor’s degree at a Dutch university this academic year, but slightly more signed up for a master’s, according to preliminary figures.

Although the legislation is now ready to be processed by parliament, the new government still has the option to withdraw it.