The intake of first-year university bachelor’s students has declined again. Both international and Dutch students are staying away. Only in Leiden and Delft have the numbers increased.
Demonstration day at the 3mE (now ME) faculty in 2023. Mechanical engineering is by far the largest bachelor's programme at TU Delft. (Photo: Thijs van Reeuwijk)
Around 56,000 bachelor’s students enrolled at a Dutch university in 2025. That is 3.4% less than last year. For the fifth year in a row, the number of first-year students has declined. Both Dutch (3.3%) and international enrolment (3.6%) has fallen.
In Delft, the total number of new bachelor’s students rose by 50 (1.5%) to 3,472. This number of new entrants has fluctuated around 3,500 students for years, bucking the national trend. Apart from the rising number of bachelor’s programmes in education and cross-sector programmes, there has been a downward trend nationwide.
According to the UNL university association, the lower intake is due to fewer pre-university students starting a degree programme; fewer pre-university students took their final exams and they also passed less often. In addition, they seem to be taking a gap year more and more often.
International students
International enrolment also fell, by 3.6%. Students from countries in the European Economic Area (EEA countries) in particular are increasingly less likely to choose a bachelor’s degree in the Netherlands.
The now outgoing Schoof cabinet wanted to cut back on these students. A new law was intended to reduce the number of international students. Among other things, there would be a “language test” for English-language programmes. But the new coalition is pulling the plug on this plan.
Interestingly, the sectors facing shortages, namely engineering and health, are attracting more international students, particularly engineering. Almost one in five international students who started a bachelor’s degree in the Netherlands in 2025 chose an engineering programme.
Technical universities
Delft, Eindhoven and Wageningen were the only universities to attract more international students in 2025 than in 2024. 25% of new bachelor’s students in Delft come from abroad. The top three in Delft are students from Romania, Poland and Belgium.
Wageningen attracted one international student more than last year. However, the universities of Eindhoven and Wageningen attracted fewer Dutch students, which meant that their intake still declined.
Despite fewer international students coming to Leiden, the university still saw more first-year students enrol: the number of new Dutch bachelor’s students rose by almost 6%.
The University of Amsterdam remains the largest university in the Netherlands, but welcomed over 600 fewer first-year students this year than in 2024. The Vrije Universiteit also had around 500 fewer students.
Decline
A total of 332,000 bachelor’s and master’s students are enrolled at a Dutch university, of whom around 91,000 are international. Last year, the total number was 338,000.
UNL is concerned about the decline. “Without an inviting talent strategy, we are undermining our science, (social) innovation and our economy,” says chairman Caspar van den Berg.
Top talent
The coalition parties have indeed included such a talent strategy in their new agreement. “Universities and colleges will be given more opportunities to attract top international talent and retain their own talent,” write D66, CDA and VVD.
However, the coalition parties believe it is important to ‘keep control’ over the arrival of international students and want to make ‘binding administrative agreements’ with educational institutions on this matter.
HOP, Naomi Bergshoeff
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