Photo Joris Schaap University classes are due to start next week but lots of students still do not have a room, shows a poll by Resource among 114 first-years at AID.
One in three first-year students does not yet have a room. Some of them are not looking either as they prefer to live with their parents. A quarter of first-year students would like a room but have not yet found one.
That means the room shortage is not as bad as a year ago. The impact of the coronavirus was a distorting factor in the market then. Many first-years stayed at home in 2020 because all teaching was online so that led to a peak in demand this time last year. The current figures are comparable with the situation in 2019, before the pandemic.
Why Wageningen?
WUR still enjoys a high reputation as a place to study. Most first-years by far chose Wageningen because of its good name. There is also often little choice in practice: many degree subjects can only be studied in Wageningen. A significant proportion of the first-years (20 per cent) also give the town itself as a reason for choosing Wageningen. Reasons for the choice of degree are as idealistic as ever. In addition to interest in the subject, over half the students want meaningful work and to make the world a better place. A good job and big salary barely play any role at all. The respondents do however appreciate the breadth of the degree programme and the flexibility that gives them.
