A new study finds that the influx of international students to universities in the Netherlands brings, aside from a lot of money, a lot of benefits for their Dutch peers.
Namely: love, marriage, travel, a competitive edge, openness, and tolerance.
The large-scale study will soon be published in the American Economic Journal, where economist Stanislav Avdeev studied first-year bachelor’s students between 1988 and 2019.
Specifically, he looked at how they fared over time. According to Trouw, this is the first study that has been able to clearly show the long-term social impact of internationalisation on students in the Netherlands.
The benefits
Imagine a Dutch boy sitting next to a girl from Vietnam at university.
When her “get the highest grade” upbringing mingles with his “just be yourself” parenting, what do you think happens?
The boy walks out of that classroom with a better GPA and possibly the mother of his future children.
Avdeev’s study found that Dutch students who were exposed to more international classmates are much more likely to enter into relationships with non-Dutch partners.
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Fifteen years after their study, they were also more likely to get married to them or another international, and even emigrate years later.
The study also shows that if a university has 10% more international students, each programme will later see about one extra graduate living with a foreign partner, with more Dutch students also ending up emigrating or marrying a non-Dutch citizen.
On top of this, Avdeev’s study found that the arrival of international students makes Dutch students more open and tolerant, giving them a positive attitude about European integration.
Love-hate relationship
Recent Dutch cabinets have taken to bashing international students: blaming them for the housing crisis, the worsening quality of education, and overcrowded lecture halls.
This is why Eppo Bruins, the previous Minister of Education, insisted that programs should be taught in Dutch.
At the same time, non-EU international students are paying exorbitantly for their seats, with tuition fees quadrupling those of their European counterparts.
Capping the enrollment of student migrants could cost the Dutch GDP up to €5 billion.
But does having more international students on campus actually hurt the quality of education for locals? According to Avdeev, that concern is “unfounded.”
The study noted that Dutch students in international study groups were no more likely to be unemployed later in life, nor did they earn less than students whose classmates were all Dutch.
So the next time you blame an international for stealing your job, perhaps you should blame the current job market instead.
A call to stop the decline of international students
Roel van Herpt, the Director of Marketing and Communications at Maastricht University, believes the study supports his personal experiences.
Van Herpt tells DutchReview, “As an individual who’s developing, it is good to be confronted with different perspectives.”
Maastricht University sees Avdeev’s findings as another reason to stop the decline in international students that has been ongoing for two years.
In a statement, the university wrote that “These findings align with the results of previous research among our students. This showed that an international setting with a good mix of nationalities leads to higher grades and is perceived as enriching.”
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