During the 2025/26 academic year, there were 129,764 global students registered throughout degree levels at Dutch universities and greater expert education (HBO) — a 0.1% decrease of simply 133 trainees on the year before.
“Although it is a small decrease, it certainly shows a break in the pattern,” stated Jonatan Weenik, researcher at Nuffic, the Dutch body for internationalisation.
The figures, released in Nuffic’s yearly report, show a 3.8% decline in brand-new global undergraduate enrolments, while brand-new master’s trainees were up by 2.9% at universities and 8.4% at HBOs.
According to Weenink, the increase in master’s trainees can partially be credited to worldwide trainees already in the country moving from undergraduate degrees.
“If you ignore those transfer students, there is also a decline in the university master’s.”
“The truth that enrolment in bachelor’s programs continues to decline most likely indicates that the drop in total numbers will continue for a long time,” he said.
While 2025/26 marks the third successive year of declines at the undergraduate level, it is the very first time that amount to students throughout universities and higher professional education have actually fallen.
Significantly, Weenink highlighted a “striking” 28% reduction in brand-new Chinese trainees, with China falling out of The Netherlands’ leading five source nations for the very first time because 2006.
“A possible description for this is the rising position of Chinese universities in international rankings, making students more inclined to study in their own country,” he suggested, noting that Chinese enrolments in other European and Western nations are revealing similar trends.
Rutger Brood, head of marketing at the University of Groningen, agreed that the more comprehensive decline had actually not been driven by policy alone: “Market trends, altering student preferences, geopolitical developments and increased worldwide competitors are also forming trainee mobility,” he informed The PIE News.
That being stated, he anticipated the government would see the figures as broadly in line with the objectives of current policy measures focused on minimizing worldwide trainee development.
On the other hand, despite remaining the top sending out nation, the data showed new enrolments from Germany decline by 9% last year, in extension of a pattern seen because 2020.
In other places, there was a modest rebound of European trainees following a three-year decline, as Italy, Romania, Spain and Poland follow Germany to make up The Netherlands’ top 5 source markets.
The truth that enrolment in bachelor’s programs continues to decrease likely shows that the drop in total numbers will continue for some time
Jonatan Weenik, Nuffic
While total non-European trainees reduced by 3.5%, Indian trainee totals increased by the very same quantity, with brand-new master’s students from India increasing by 16.5%.
What’s more, Türkiye overtook India as the second-largest sending country outside the European Economic Area, with both standing closely behind a quickly diminishing China.
Within The Netherlands, the number of global students in the capital reduced for the very first time this year by 1.7%.
“Amsterdam is, after all, the city with the most international students and has the image of a very global city,” said Weenink. “The decline fits the national photo, but is still striking because light.”
Brood highlighted that Dutch universities have been pursuing targeted recruitment techniques in locations of tactical value to Dutch society, labour markets and the economy, rather than looking for “development for development’s sake”.
This is evident in the significant 11% rise in global trainees taking engineering, which is now the second-largest field after economics.
Notably, the city of Eindhoven saw a significant 13.4% boost in trainees, mostly sustained by this pattern, with Eindhoven University of Technology popular for its engineering courses.
The data follows several years of federal restrictions on international trainees in The Netherlands, under the government’s internationalisation in balance bill (WIB) which looked for to bring down worldwide enrolments and reinforce the Dutch language in education.
Whilst numerous of the costs’s most controversial procedures have been rolled back — including the requirement to formally prove the right of English-taught courses to exist — universities have actually taken their own measures to reduce global enrolments to sustainable levels.
“The essential consideration is making sure that the Netherlands continues to educate enough highly knowledgeable graduates to meet the needs of its economy, particularly in sectors where skill stays in high need,” stated Brood
What’s more, he said one favorable development of higher government scrutiny implied it was now in routine contact about the challenges dealing with the sector, inviting the “ongoing discussion” in between policymakers and universities.
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