Internationalization: “Good that you have a glass-half-empty attitude”
How are we going to manage the influx of foreign students? Several political parties are considering tinkering with higher education funding. Minister Dijkgraaf warns of the consequences.
Plans
The debate centered on his plans to gain control over enrollment numbers. For example, programs will be allowed to put a “numerus fixus” on the English-language variant of a program to limit the number of international students while guaranteeing accessibility for Dutch students.
There will also be a stricter language policy: Foreign-language programs must better justify why they do not teach in Dutch. This will especially apply to bachelor programs, the minister explained yesterday. The current law does not suffice because there is “a huge loophole in the law.” The exceptions (i.e., Dutch unless...) are now too broadly worded, Dijkgraaf argued. “And then everybody uses that loophole.”
Direction
He was further allowed to explain his plan for “a form of centralized direction.” He felt that institutions should “self-manage,” as they should be the ones to determine how they approach internationalization. They should do so “within a clear framework” to be outlined by the minister following the advice of a new committee, but he wants to be able to pull the “emergency brake,” if necessary.
This plan met with some resistance, of course. There is already so much oversight in higher education, said Harm Beertema of the PVV, yet internationalization has still gotten out of hand. “Consider all members of supervisory boards, all boards of governors, all education committees, all co-determination, all examination committees, all review committees.” Why should things go better this time?
But Dijkgraaf remained confident. Institutions have understood the problem. “We live in a different time. Things have now become visibly dysfunctional. Many of you pointed out the incentives that drive that, and we are now entering a different era.”
The elephant in the room
Perhaps the biggest incentive is funding. Many parties started talking about that, as it is “the elephant in the room” in discussions about internationalization, as Lisa Westerveld of the Green Left pointed out. Or, in other words, no one is talking about the most important issue, namely that universities and colleges receive funding for students who study at their institutions. Therefore it is in their interest to have a large number of foreign students.
But what can be done about this? Funding for higher education falls roughly into two blocks: a fixed portion (which an institution receives in any case) and a variable portion (which depends on the number of students). Several parties suggested that the “fixed base” should perhaps be increased, making student recruitment less important.
This was the opinion of GroenLinks, D66 and SP, for example. Other parties also thought change might be possible through funding. As VVD MP Hatte van der Woude noted, “If you don’t change the funding, nothing else is going to change.”
In fact, the VVD wants to steer things in a different direction. Van der Woude believes that more money should go to sectors that would help the Netherlands move forward. Internationalization is good, but, “As far as the VVD is concerned, we don’t need to train all the coaches and communication experts in the world.”
Holistic
Dijkgraaf bypassed that last topic, preferring to leave those choices to the institutions themselves for now. He did explain, however, that tinkering with funding is not so easy. Increasing the fixed base may provide more certainty, but it also has disadvantages, such as for programs that are growing.
Besides, the fixed amount for universities and colleges can be increased, but what happens to the other institutions? “I am afraid that the finance minister will pay me anyway based on the total number of students,” Dijkgraaf said. That is why he warned against increasing the “fixed base.” That would make the variable part “much more variable.”
“Institutions could even go under,” Dijkgraaf warned. “Funding must be looked at in a very cautious and holistic way.”
Summer
This summer he is going to put a bill on internationalization online for everyone to comment on. He then wants to get it approved by the House and Senate as quickly as possible, he announced. Then it will be a matter of the right direction, the numerus fixus, language requirements, and so on. And the discussion about funding? To be continued.
