Backed by a relentless passion for improvement and innovation, the Dutch higher education system has been consistently climbing the hierarchy of the best study abroad destinations in the world. In the 2021/2022 academic year alone, 110,000 plus foreign students enrolled in different universities in the Netherlands. During the same academic year, 40 percent of all the first year students came from abroad and the popular programs among these students were journalism, behavior, and society. The ever-increasing number of foreign students in the country further highlights the global appeal of higher education in Netherlands. While the majority of international students come from European countries, the number of international students from Asia is constantly rising with China and India being the biggest sender countries.          

The Dutch government and Nuffic (Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education) are two of the most important pillars that support the Dutch higher education system. They are constantly working towards not only increasing the global appeal of Dutch higher education but also to ensure that HEIs in the country never compromise on the quality of their education. Let’s analyze some of the unique ways through which these two entities enhance the quality of Dutch higher education.    

Constant Investments for Consistent Improvement  

The government of the country is set to invest EUR 200 million in a year in all the different university disciplines. According to the announcement made by Universities of Netherlands (UNL), the investment will be under a coalition agreement in order to support university recovery in the country. Later, this was confirmed by the Minister of Education, Culture, and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf. This coalition agreement will foresee multiple investments that exceed EUR 700 million. This amount will primarily be used in research grants as well as sector plans. The Minister also talked about further spending on projects related to large-scale research infrastructure, and student well-being. The government is set to pay EUR 300 million in one year for the personal budget of university researchers as well. Apart from all this, the Dutch government has also revealed their investment plans which exceed EUR 6 billion in research and innovation. These investments can help Dutch HEIs to continue nurturing capable professionals in a myriad of arenas as well as offer them greater flexibility when it comes to research.          

Code of Conduct

The HEIs in the country offer foreign students a guarantee when it comes to the quality of programs, recruitment of students etc. in a Code of Conduct. This is another initiative that makes Dutch higher education unique and innovative. The Code was introduced as a guideline for the relation between international students and HEIs in the country. The Code of Conduct sets standards for HEIs when it comes to their interaction with foreign students and those institutes who haven’t signed up to the Code are not allowed to recruit foreign students.  After signing the Code, educational institutions will be committed to offer reliable information about their programs for foreign students. The information will also include the institute’s accreditation status, as well as quality and admission requirements. All these information should be easily accessible for the students. Educational institutions should also let the international students know about the various services they offer when it comes to getting visa permits, housing, and student counseling among many others. Aside from this, in the information materials, the institute should specify the cost of each service as well.        

The Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP)

OKP is a unique Dutch global development programme introduced by Nuffic. Currently it is available in 30 plus countries and this programme aims to enhance the knowledge as well as skills of professionals who are working in priority felids which include food and nutrition security, water, energy and climate etc. through scholarships as well as training. OKP also strives to build the capacity of TVET (Technical Vocational Education & Training) as well as other organizations in higher education. This will be done in collaboration with knowledge institutions in Netherlands. The countries participating in this program will be divided into two: Full-programme countries or Category A countries and Compact-programme countries or Category B countries.  This initiative has four variations of funding referred to as instruments and these include: A) institutional collaboration projects, B) three varieties of training to support local organizations, individual scholarships for mid-career professionals, and investing in local alumni.        

Emphasizing Quality over Quantity    

While many other countries are working on strategies to welcome as many international students into their country as possible, Netherlands is taking a different approach. According to UNL, the government of the country should put a cap on the number of individuals who is admitted into the country for education purposes. This is to ensure that the quality of education imparted at Dutch HEIs is not compromised and the workload is not too much to manage. Some of the plans from UNL in regards to controlling the number of international students in the country include using an emergency cap if the number of registrations rise, and setting a fixed number of students admitted in English-language track within a study program.               

Driven by these aforementioned strategies, the Dutch higher education system aspires to continue enhancing the quality of their education while at the same time offer ample importance towards creating an innovative learning environment where both local and international students can thrive. At the same time individual institutions are coming up with innovative ways to enhance the quality of education they offer. University of Twente and their Master's Insert ‘Shaping Responsible Futures’ program is one such unique program. This particular program allows master’s students to follow an in-depth transdisciplinary program which will be outside their regular study area and will focus on complex societal relevant issue. These kinds of programs are the need of the hour when it comes to creating students with transferable skills who can have a positive impact on the society.