Universities: scholarships for foreign students

The Netherlands should have a scholarship system for foreign students. Dutch universities and universities for applied science have sent a vision document about this to the Dutch education minister, Jet Bussemaker.

Until 2012, the Netherland had a similar system, called the ‘Huygens Scholarship Programme’. Because of government cuts, this programme ended. With that, the schools say, The Netherlands prize themselves out of the market, since other European countries do still help foreign students financially. Besides that, more active branding should be applied to convince students of the unique character of the Dutch education. The broad educational offer, the strong bond between education and research, the many courses in English and the bond between education and companies are unique selling points for our country.

The universities also want to attract more scientific talent, students as well as teachers. This is beneficial for the Dutch knowledge economy. Besides the call for more scholarships, the institutions also want to expand the ‘international classroom’ project, where students of different nationalities are in one class together.