Study long and prosper

Are you familiar with the expression ‘lifelong learning’? It came to mind when the debate over the so-called ‘extended study penalty’ flared up again. What could be more fulfilling than a lifetime of learning, with many of those years spent studying at a great university? Not just specialised learning but also broad, interdisciplinary learning – the once-celebrated T-shaped profile. You don’t hear anyone mentioning that anymore. These days, it’s all about churning out engineers as quickly as possible. Where did it all go wrong?

When Rob Mudde – Mr Education on the Executive Board – announced his departure, important people, as is customary at farewells and funerals, lavished him with praise. For example, Tijo Johannes Guyon Baron Collot d’Escury, the Chairman of our Supervisory Board, who, despite my subtle hints, remains in function, commended him for “the great strides made in the field of open education and lifelong learning”.

So while TU Delft promotes lifelong learning, it also demands that students clear out after five years

So while TU Delft promotes lifelong learning, it also demands that students clear out after five years, under threat of an extended study penalty. As if extended studying is despicable. Rob Mudde has expressed strong opposition to this fine, but his concern seems mainly about the disparity in opportunity it creates. This EUR 3,000 penalty will be less problematic for the daughter of a baron than for the son of a bus driver. And all this despite the fact that an eternal student costs society next to nothing. Twelve years ago, I wrote (in Dutch) that a prison inmate is 20 times more expensive than a student, and that still holds true today. Moreover, long-term students burden the university much less than those who graduate quickly. They may retake a few more exams, but they certainly don’t attend all the lectures again. They take more time on their thesis – so what? If they take a very long time – as with one student of mine who needed six and a half years – then the literature review needs updating – so what?

We should cherish long-term students. Students who, alongside their core studies, explore other disciplines. Students who attend lectures on subjects they find interesting in addition to the courses required for their degree. Such students are increasingly rare. Students who make time for hobbies and sports, who read books and enjoy culture. Time for study societies, student associations, and volunteer work. Time to earn a bit of extra money and enjoy a holiday. Time for self-reflection and self-expression. That time no longer exists; that era has passed.

At a protest meeting in 2011, the then D66 (a political party) leader Alexander Pechtold proudly declared in his best German: “Ich bin ein Langstudierder!” In 1985, he began studying law at Leiden University but switched to art history and archaeology a year later. He didn’t graduate until 1996. Someone who studies for 11 years can truly be called a long-term student. Hats off to him.

Thirteen years later, the same debate is heating up again. My stance remains unchanged. ‘Come to TU Delft for a T-shaped profile and study for as long as you want!’ seems like the perfect slogan to me. Lang Lebe die Langstudierder!