The Netherlands hardly benefits from EU-students

Most foreign students leave the Netherlands as soon as they have their degrees. They do not integrate and therefore do not contribute to the local economy, said Sander van den Eijnden, head of the Dutch organisation for internationalisation of higher education (Nuffic) in daily newspaper de Volkskrant before Christmas.

‘Our strong point is our English language abilities, that is why foreign students come here,’ said Van den Eijden. ‘But it is also our weakness. Foreign students are on the edge of society because they do nothing in Dutch.’

According to Van den Eijden a better integration of foreign students would bring advantages for the Dutch economy. He said this before the publication of a profit-loss analysis of EU- students attending Dutch universities by the government.

Far more foreign students come to the Netherlands than Dutch students study abroad. Even though the EU pays 6,000 euros a year for each foreign student, the total of 34,000 foreign students still cost the Dutch tax payer 90 million euros a year. In comparison, only 19,000 Dutch students are studying abroad.

Earlier Dutch Party for Freedom PVV said the number of foreign students in the Netherlands should be limited because there is a shortage of student rooms.

It is partly the low tuition fees – 1,700 euros for EU students- which make it very attractive for students to follow a degree in the Netherlands than, for instance, in England, where tuition fees will be tripled to a maximum of 9,000 pounds this year.

‘This must stop. The EU-rules have to be changed”, said two economics professor at the University of Maastricht about the same discussion in the Volkskrant. “EU-countries should be able to give every student a personal education budget which can be spent at any university in Europe – at home and abroad”,  Henriëtte Maassen van den Brink and Wim Groot argued. According to them this would be a major boost to the mobility of students. Moreover, it would be good for the quality of education when universities have to compete to attract student.

Dutch state secretary Halbe Zijlstra has already raised the issue of financial compensation with his EU colleagues, the Volkskrant said. He has commissioned further research into the growing number of foreign students, which is expected to be completed in May 2012.