Photo Guy Ackemans That is 182 fewer than last year (down 15 per cent). WUR has seen the biggest drop of all Dutch universities, along with Eindhoven University of Technology.
Wageningen degree programmes that are doing badly this year are Nutrition & Health (39 per cent fewer first-years) and Biotechnology (a fall of 30 per cent). However, these programmes no longer have an enrolment limit so students can now register later for these degrees. The programme directors expect enrolment numbers to pick up.
Other BSc programmes have seen big drops too: 31 per cent for Agrotechnology, 40 per cent for Management, Economics & Consumer Studies and 46 per cent for Communication & Life Sciences. Only Food Technology and Landscape Architecture are up slightly.
Own region
Is the decline worrying? ‘We had fewer preliminary registrations last year too but we made up for that lost ground later,’ says recruitment marketer Renske van Dijk. ‘But now we are behind even that lower number from last year. We definitely need to catch up.’
We have climate and environment degrees too, but there is a lot of competition, for example from Utrecht
Renske van Dijk, recruitment marketer
Van Dijk does not have an explanation for the big drops. ‘Our hypothesis is that young people’s interests have shifted from technology to the climate and the environment. Our technological degrees are suffering as a result. Of course we have climate and environment degrees too, but there is a lot of competition, for example from Utrecht.’ Van Dijk also thinks schoolchildren prefer a university in their own region in these Covid times.