First-year students plummets hardest at FGw due to absence of international students
This year, the Faculty of Humanities is seeing the sharpest decline in enrollment of the entire UvA, mainly due to the absence of international students. English-language bachelor’s programs are therefore the hardest hit. “Foreign students are being deterred.”
The student population at the UvA is shrinking for the first time in ten years, and nowhere else at the UvA is the decline as significant as at the Faculty of Humanities (FGw). According to preliminary enrollment figures released by universities last week, 20.3 percent fewer bachelor’s students enrolled in FGw programs for the current academic year compared to the previous year. Across the UvA as a whole, there are ‘only’ about seven percent fewer first-year students in bachelor’s programs.
Nationally, the decline in enrollment figures is most pronounced in the natural sciences. At the UvA, this group is also declining rapidly, with a 13.7 percent drop in bachelor’s students at the Faculty of Science (FNWI). However, the decline is even greater among bachelor’s students in the humanities.
Twice as few international as Dutch students
Peter-Wim Zuidhof, director of the College of Humanities (CoH), which oversees the FGw’s bachelor’s programs, observes that “across the country, enrollment in the humanities in particular is under pressure this year.” Among Dutch students, the number of applications to the FGw at the UvA fell by 14 percent.
Peter-Wim Zuidhof emphasizes that enrollment at the College of Humanities (CoH) fluctuates every year. “Unlike other faculties, FGw does not have a fixed number of places for its programs, which means that our enrollment figures are more subject to fluctuation.” In recent years, the CoH has experienced significant growth, and only now is there a decline for the first time, says Zuidhof. In addition, there has been a slight increase in the number of students enrolled in FGw’s master’s programs.
However, it is mainly international students who are staying away from the humanities. The decline among international students is approximately twice as large as among Dutch students. For students within the European Economic Area (EEA), the decline is 27.5 percent, and for students from outside the EEA, it is 28.5 percent. Across the UvA, there are 4.6 percent and 7.9 percent fewer foreign students, respectively.
International studies shrink the most
The FGw bachelor’s program in Media and Information has been hit the hardest within the UvA, with 37 percent fewer applications (184 to 116 students). Media and Culture has also declined sharply, by 19 percent (369 to 299 students). The program director of these two programs, Michael Stevenson, has seen the proportion of international students in these programs decline for a number of years, so these figures do not come as a complete surprise.
According to Stevenson, the Media and Information bachelor’s program has been particularly hard hit because it is only offered in English and is mainly attended by foreign students (87.2 percent foreign students in 2023). Stevenson shares figures showing that European students in particular are staying away this year: a 45 percent drop compared to last year. Zuidhof also explains the sharp decline in international programs—in addition to the two media programs, also the European Studies bachelor’s program—by the fact that international students in particular are staying away this year.
(Geo)politics, cost, and competition
The CoH is still investigating why fewer international students are coming to study humanities. Zuidhof’s assessment is that “due to geopolitical unrest in the world, students are becoming somewhat more cautious in their choice to study abroad. And for many Dutch and foreign students, Amsterdam remains an expensive place to study, and housing is also a problem for every student. It cannot be ruled out that the announcements about the WIBThe Balanced Internationalization Act is a bill that aims to regulate the international influx of students by, for example, offering fewer courses in English. and the threat of restrictions on international enrollment are deterring foreign students.”
Stevenson finds the explanation for why fewer international students have enrolled in bachelor’s programs in media complex. He suspects that it is mainly due to global inflation, which has led to fewer international students studying abroad, and calls the decline at the UvA a “reflection of the broader economic reality”. A second reason Stevenson mentions is that there is now much more competition in Europe from other programs offering English-language courses.
Programs remain intact
Despite the sharp decline in his department, Zuidhof is “quite satisfied” that a considerable number of students (1,646) are still choosing to study humanities “alongside all the other great programs at the UvA. Fortunately, our programs are still going strong and can still count on sufficient numbers of students.” But there is still work to be done, according to Zuidhof: “This decline in numbers is an extra incentive for us to explain even better why Amsterdam is still the place to be for the humanities.”
