Working on an international learning environment: both Dutch and international students find their way to Erasmus University Rotterdam. This was one of the findings from the annual census of students held on 1 October. However, the increasing number of students does raise the question whether there is a limit to this growth.
The total number of Dutch students has risen this year to over 22,000, 4 percent more than last year on 1 October. The number of international students has risen by just over 6 percent to more than 5,800. The number of Dutch and international students has also risen among first-year students.
Erasmus University now has students from 118 countries, from Afghanistan to Switzerland - so a wide range of nationalities. Within the group of international students, German students are in the majority, followed some way behind by students from Italy and Greece. Around 20 percent of the student population now come from abroad. See also the fact sheet under this message.
Good diversity in terms of nationalities is essential for a truly international learning environment at Erasmus University. The same applies to recruiting talented scholars and entering into partnerships.
Such an international learning environment is important for scholars and students. They often start work or are already working in an environment with international contacts. In addition, internationalisation enhances knowledge and skills.
On 19 November 2018, VSNU and the EUR are organising a conference about internationalisation.
An international learning environment is important for scholars and students.
Boundaries to growth
The growth in the total number of students is continuing this year too. On 1 October, there were 28,346 students at Erasmus University (+4.6 percent). The growth was smaller than in previous years, however. This was mainly due to a fall in the number of (new EUR) students embarking on a master programme. The total number of first-year students is slightly more than 8,600, around 200 more than last year. The total enrolment figures (students can enrol in multiple programmes simultaneously) rose by 5 percent to 31,149.
However, the above trend does raise the question whether there are boundaries to growth, as addressed in the recent bottleneck analysis of the VSNU. The continued growth in the number of students, combined with the lack of education and research funding, creates a high workload among staff and puts pressure on the quality of education and research - also at EUR.
Finally, the university again has slightly more women than men students: 51.9 percent versus 48.1 percent. Last year, the percentage of women was 51.2 percent.
About the 1 October census
Each university annually makes a tally of the number of students and enrolments on 1 October. The 1 October census is a snapshot: the figures may change slightly after this date, because the registration of students is an ongoing process in which corrections to past figures may still be applied.
- More information
Press Office Erasmus University Rotterdam, +31 10 408 12 16 or press@eur.nl