Most of the Netherlands’ 13 universities have fallen on the latest Times Higher Education ranking, and none now remain in the top 50.

Delft University of Technology remains the highest-ranked Dutch institution but has fallen from 48th to 56th place. In total, eight universities have gone down in the rankings, while Amsterdam has risen from 61 to 58 and Leiden from 77 to 73.

Oxford remains top of the list, followed by MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Cambridge.

“But while the top of the ranking is still dominated by US and UK institutions, the data behind it reveals a more worrisome trend: both countries are seeing a rapid decline in their average research and teaching reputation,” Times Higher Education said.

The same situation is reflected in the Netherlands, where the research compilers are concerned about the new government’s plans to make cuts.

In addition, “the new coalition government, with the far-right PVV now the largest party, has proposed restrictions on international students and researchers, including limitations on English-language instruction and higher tuition fees for students from outside the European Union,” the organisation points out.

Rotterdam’s Erasmus University has also dropped out of the top 100, falling from 99 to 107. This means there are only five Dutch universities in the top 100, the lowest number since 2012.   

Doubts

Dutch universities have expressed their doubts in the past about the rankings and Utrecht has not contributed information for two years.

Utrecht told Dutch News last year that it is almost impossible to measure the quality of an entire university, with all its different departments, and give it an overall score.

“We also think rankings place too much emphasis on scores and competition, but science is best served by cooperation. Working together and open science are two of our key values,” a spokeswoman said.

The rankings, which are topped by Oxford in England, are based on teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.