Lower enrollment, but number of UvA students increases again

The total number of students at the University of Amsterdam has risen again. Last year there were 42,324 students studying at the UvA; now there are 43,039, an increase of 1.7 percent. This is according to preliminary figures from the UvA, which uses mid-October as a benchmark. Final figures usually do not come out until around February.

Still, there are bright spots for the university, too, in the fight against further expansion. The increase in the number of UvA students is lower than in previous years. After all, last academic year the student population still increased by 2.7 percent, and in academic year 2020/21 there was even an increase of 9.1 percent. 

Enrollment figures have also declined overall. The number of students getting their bachelor’s degree decreased by 3.6 percent compared to last year; in the academic year 2022/23 there were 8,512 freshmen, and now there are 8,207. On the other hand, the number of master’s students increased an average of 2.5 percent.

Numerus fixus

To maintain the balance between the national and international student population at the UvA and curb overall student numbers, the university chose to institute a numerus fixus for some programs. For example, the English-language variant of the psychology program was given a new cap. The intake figures here show that the number of Dutch students increased by as much as 65 percent compared to last year, while the number of international students decreased by 24 percent.

In short, such a targeted numerus fixus—i.e., not for the entire program—appears to be “a good way to safeguard the bilingualism of the university on the one hand, and regulate the international student population on the other,” says a UvA spokesperson.

To do this, the UvA took advantage of an exception in current legislation. “This was only possible with Psychology, because this program specifically trains you for the Dutch labor market,” a spokesperson explains. The political science program, for example, does not, so there is still a numerus fixus for the entire program. The result? Dutch students in particular are skipping the UvA’s political science program (a 53 percent drop).

A good alternative

Only when the new Internationalization in Balance bill is passed takes effect can this construction be applied to other programs. Earlier, political science program director Armen Hahkverdian expressed his hopes for this.

He did so in response to reports that Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf might want to adopt language policies within certain programs. Reportedly, the minister would like to limit the maximum number of subjects in English to one third.

That would be “an unmitigated disaster for a large number of programs,” Hakhverdian responded at the time. Fortunately, practice now shows that a targeted numerus fixus on the English-language variant can be a suitable “alternative,” according to the UvA spokesperson.