Dijkgraaf says 30 credits are enough in first year
The bar is going down: first-year students will soon only have to complete 30 out of 60 credits to continue their studies, at least if Minister Dijkgraaf’s plans get a majority.
To improve student welfare, Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf wants to take the pressure off students by curbing binding study advice (BSA). Soon, if first-year students obtain at least half of their credits, they can no longer be expelled from their programs.
But they must again obtain 30 credits in the second year of study, he writes in a letter to the House of Representatives. So after two years of study, they must have accumulated at least 60 credits. This will give them more time to get used to studying, the minister believes.
Now, according to the ministry, the standard is an average of 45 points. This measure (15 points less on average) should reduce the performance pressure. It requires a change in the law and takes time. The plans should take effect by September 2025.
“Too much pressure has a paralyzing effect, can lead to poorer learning performance, and thus clouds the picture of whether or not a student is suitable for an college education,” Dijkgraaf said in a press release.
First-year students already have enough on their minds, he believes. “In the first year, students go through a lot, such as going to rooms, getting used to studying, and learning how to stand on their own two feet.” Programs should therefore not set the bar too high, he concludes.
Universities
This is a bad plan, responds university association president Pieter Duisenberg of UNL. During an online press conference, he presents figures and graphs to show that the current binding study advice works just fine.
Thanks to the BSA, students know faster where they stand, say the universities. In fact, it is precisely the weaker students who would benefit from a high standard. After all, they study towards the standard: if the bar is higher, they will jump higher and this will still benefit them later in their education.
WOinAction
A lower BSA standard will increase the workload for teachers, predicts Groningen statistics professor Casper Albers. He is involved in WOinAction and also attended the online press conference. A lower standard will cause weaker students to stay in the program longer. They simply require more attention, is his reasoning. If the minister wants to go through with this plan, he should make more money available, according to Albers.
It would not be good, either, for older students to be in a study group with students who still have to catch up on courses from the first year. The BSA plans may come at the expense of the quality of education, the universities think.
Students
But student union LSVb is pleased. It’s a good move by the minister, says president Joram van Velzen: “Now the binding study advice is often used to kick students out of college or university as quickly as possible if they don’t produce good results.” Ideally, the union would scrap binding study advice altogether.
The Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg also calls the plans a breath of fresh air. “As far as we are concerned, the words binding and advice do not go together at all,” said board member Sam de Fockert. “Easing the rules strikes a better balance between the well-being of students and their study progress.”
Politics
Dijkgraaf's predecessor and party colleague Ingrid van Engelshoven (D66) also wanted to curb the BSA. In September 2018, she proclaimed that the standard should be lowered to 40 points in the first year. But she had to back down, saying later that she mainly wanted to "make some waves."
The House of Representatives has yet to discuss the new plans. That should be interesting, because the two largest governing parties, VVD and D66, have opposing ideas about the BSA. VVD thinks a strict standard is fine, while D66 is skeptical.
The coalition agreement already stated that the binding study advice would be adjusted, but how exactly? Students would still be given the chance to meet the standard in their second year. “In case of clearly insufficient study progress, the institution retains the possibility to issue binding study advice at the end of the first year and advise the student of a more suitable program.”
Alternative
The universities propose two alternatives. Their ideal: let programs themselves, in consultation with the employee participation body, determine which standard suits them. Should that not be politically feasible, at least set the standard higher, for example, at a maximum of 45 points.
The Association of Universities of Applied Sciences has not yet responded, but in recent years several colleges have relaxed or even abolished the BSA altogether; others are planning to do so soon. So it seems to be a trend to keep students on board longer, although some colleges want to continue as before.
