Many German students in Dutch higher education

In 2008/’09, nearly 45 thousand foreign students were enrolled at Dutch vocational colleges and universities, a 28 percent growth compared to 2005/’06. The majority of them are German (42 percent).

Sharp increase German students

In the period 2005/’06–2008/’09, the number of students of German nationality in higher vocational education (hbo) increased by nearly half to 11.6 thousand. The amount of Germans in university education (wo) rose by more than three quarters to 7.4 thousand over the same period. Chinese and Belgian students in hbo and wo followed at a large distance. The number of Dutch students in higher education rose by nearly 6 percent in this period.

Top three foreign students in Dutch higher education

Psychology most popular among German students

In 2008/’09, nearly one quarter of German students were studying psychology at Dutch universities. Business management is also a popular subject (22 percent). With 14 percent, socio-pedagogical work is most popular among German hbo students. Most Chinese hbo students (42 percent) opted for international relations and organisations.

Most popular subjects for German students in Dutch higher education, 2008/’09*

Majority of foreign hbo and wo students are women

Nearly 60 percent of foreign hbo students and 54 percent of wo students in 2008/’09 were women. No less than three quarters of Polish, Russian, Japanese and Finnish hbo students were women.

Only 8 percent of Pakistani hbo students were women. At university level, three quarters of Russian students were also women, as against only 22 percent of Ethiopian students.

Nationalities with a large and small proportion of women in Dutch hbo, 2008/’09*

Theo van Miltenburg