Students increasingly fanatical

Students spend more time on their studies than ten years ago. This is shown by the ‘Ten Years Higher Education Student Monitor” of the Ministry of Education, a research on the behavior and socioeconomic status of students.

University students spend on average 33 hours per week on their studies, 11 hours more than in 2000.The time they spend at work has remained the same. The number of motivated students has increased, the number of students with insufficient effort has decreased. Yet, still 19% of the students are not motivated enough, which is 4% more than in college. The proportion of men is bigger.

The guys have been catching up on their gap with women. Also, minority students do better and better, although the percentage of student taking more than allowed to finish their program is higher among ethnic minority (24%) than natives (21%).

40 to 50 % is (very) satisfied about their finance, although the average budget has become tighter since 2008. The main source of revenue is still paid work. Other incomes coming from the scholarship, loan or parental contribution are almost equal. A quarter of the students has a student loan.

Tighter finances can be a reason for a decrease in plans abroad. The proportion of students that has plans for a stay abroad has decreased from 75 to 50%. Ultimately, only 15% follow part of their study abroad.

The Student Monitor works with an average of 10,000 respondents per year.