Photo Guy Ackermans The final data (reference date 1 October) of the Dutch Universities shows that the influx of bachelors decreased by 6 per cent, while the number of masters’ students dropped by 9 per cent, a combined total of 286 persons. A decline of this magnitude is new for the masters, which has shown a steady increase for many years. The decline among the bachelors is not new; this trend started earlier.
The decreasing influx has only a limited effect (less than half a per cent) on the total number of students in Wagningen. Wageningen has 12,994 students, of which 5804 are bachelor students, and 7190 masters. Among these almost 13 thousand students, 56 per cent is female. The number of femals students remained the same, the number of male students dropped by one per cent. In absolute numbers, this means the women outnumber the men by 1618.
Number of first-year bachelor students
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
| Leiden | 4 166 | 4 267 | 4 451 | 4 997 | 5 319 | 5 328 | 5 963 | 5 847 | 5 284 | -10% |
| Utrecht | 4 997 | 4 929 | 5 095 | 5 350 | 5 782 | 5 746 | 7 099 | 6 441 | 6 362 | -1% |
| Groningen | 5 284 | 5 060 | 5 453 | 5 987 | 6 745 | 6 355 | 7 192 | 7 170 | 6 619 | -8% |
| Rotterdam | 4 337 | 4 381 | 4 773 | 5 353 | 5 693 | 5 882 | 6 338 | 6 468 | 6 060 | -6% |
| Maastricht | 3 184 | 3 444 | 3 432 | 3 650 | 3 842 | 4 103 | 4 765 | 4 560 | 4 810 | 5% |
| UvA Amsterdam | 4 940 | 4 377 | 5 168 | 6 022 | 6 551 | 6 522 | 7 844 | 7 929 | 8 075 | 2% |
| VU Amsterdam | 3 793 | 3 322 | 3 428 | 3 914 | 4 498 | 5 254 | 6 126 | 5 673 | 5 289 | -7% |
| Nijmegen | 3 418 | 3 126 | 3 524 | 4 100 | 4 332 | 4 457 | 4 667 | 4 236 | 4 242 | 0% |
| Tilburg | 2 188 | 2 762 | 3 067 | 3 654 | 4 043 | 4 638 | 5 036 | 4 777 | 4 214 | -12% |
| Delft | 2 924 | 3 082 | 3 184 | 3 445 | 3 881 | 3 591 | 3 759 | 3 609 | 3 501 | -3% |
| Eindhoven | 1 986 | 2 146 | 2 247 | 2 497 | 2 225 | 2 212 | 2 417 | 2 161 | 2 238 | 4% |
| Twente | 1 719 | 1 597 | 1 962 | 2 003 | 2 217 | 2 457 | 2 628 | 2 703 | 2 056 | -24% |
| Wageningen | 1 340 | 1 381 | 1 514 | 1 588 | 1 576 | 1 444 | 1 588 | 1 382 | 1 299 | -6% |
| Total | 44 276 | 43 874 | 47 298 | 52 560 | 56 704 | 57 989 | 65 422 | 62 956 | 60 049 | -5% |
The decline in the number of first-year students is a national trend. Twente University recorded a drop of almost one-quarter among the first-year bachelor students. Tilburg (12 per cent) and Leiden (10 per cent) also saw a steep drop. Among the masters’, the largest decline was recorded in Eindhoven (19 per cent), followed by Maastricht (17 per cent), Tilburg (16 per cent), Leiden (14 per cent) and Nijmegen (13 per cent).
Number of first-year master students
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
| Leiden | 3 318 | 3 331 | 3 576 | 3 741 | 3 741 | 3 850 | 4 718 | 4 653 | 4 008 | -13,9% |
| Utrecht | 4 070 | 4 316 | 4 553 | 4 588 | 4 852 | 4 759 | 5 284 | 5 819 | 5 355 | -8,0% |
| Groningen | 3 562 | 3 747 | 3 668 | 3 830 | 4 071 | 4 049 | 5 240 | 5 090 | 4 477 | -12,0% |
| Rotterdam | 4 591 | 5 003 | 5 552 | 5 304 | 5 198 | 5 491 | 6 856 | 6 824 | 6 055 | -11,3% |
| Maastricht | 2 643 | 2 744 | 2 684 | 2 872 | 2 937 | 3 216 | 3 663 | 3 762 | 3 136 | -16,6% |
| UvA Amsterdam | 5 207 | 5 496 | 5 590 | 5 668 | 5 989 | 6 011 | 7 307 | 7 416 | 6 910 | -6,8% |
| VU Amsterdam | 4 119 | 4 459 | 4 382 | 4 683 | 4 912 | 5 166 | 6 115 | 6 312 | 5 565 | -11,8% |
| Nijmegen | 2 806 | 3 010 | 2 833 | 2 817 | 3 085 | 3 128 | 3 656 | 3 662 | 3 184 | -13,1% |
| Tilburg | 2 241 | 2 286 | 2 266 | 2 425 | 2 613 | 2 748 | 3 407 | 3 457 | 2 899 | -16,1% |
| Delft | 2 591 | 3 211 | 3 003 | 3 520 | 3 639 | 3 612 | 4 291 | 4 330 | 4 025 | -7,0% |
| Eindhoven | 1 010 | 1 156 | 1 170 | 1 259 | 1 334 | 1 473 | 1 758 | 1 769 | 1 435 | -18,9% |
| Twente | 716 | 962 | 1 126 | 1 173 | 1 181 | 1 256 | 1 353 | 1 385 | 1 250 | -9,7% |
| Wageningen | 1 340 | 1 681 | 1 714 | 1 787 | 1 843 | 2 112 | 2 148 | 2 216 | 2 013 | -9,2% |
| Total | 38 214 | 41 402 | 42 117 | 43 667 | 45 395 | 46 871 | 55 796 | 56 695 | 50 312 | -11,3% |
The lower influx is a trend that was noted at the start of this year. In 2020 and 2021, many young adults started studying because the pandemic offered few other options. That wave is now over. Many prospective students are now taking a gap year, postponing their studies in lieu of the basic student grant, which is to be reinstated in September.
The total number of students at Dutch Universities remains the same at well over 340,000. With 42,000, the UvA is the largest university, followed by Utrecht (38,000), Groningen (35,000) and Leiden (33,000).
