Generally speaking, the Netherlands is super international — but now, international students verge on comprising half of all students in Dutch universities.
The number of international students in the Netherlands has, in fact, increased even faster than the number of Dutch students in the Netherlands. Foreigners just love it here!
Coronavirus (kind of) no problem
At first, one might assume that the pandemic would reduce the number of international students in Dutch universities.
In practice, it’s been quite the opposite, according to Statistics Netherlands. Instead, the numbers continued to grow as online teaching made it simple enough to follow courses from all over the world.
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Now that internationals have started actually moving here, though, Dutch universities have quickly realised that they’re not quite prepared for the masses.
Most noticeably is the fact that the housing shortage is not getting any better, with universities warning students this week to not arrive in the Netherlands if they haven’t found a room yet.
International-friendly
Housing shortage nevertheless, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that internationals love moving here.
The Netherlands has tons of international organisations to work in, the country is centrally and conveniently located in Europe, and the Dutch have excellent English skills.
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Being an international student in the Netherlands is also quite easy and, compared to other English-speaking countries in Europe, tuition rates are typically affordable.
Europe most represented
Naturally, most international students come from Europe, with the largest chunk being from Germany.
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No surprises there either, as EU students enjoy the same tuition fee rates as Dutch students, which means it’s (comparatively) super cheap to study here.
Have you experienced what it’s like to study in the Netherlands as an international? Tell us all about it in the comments below!