We just talk about the good stuff

The international education sector in the UK is wasting an opportunity by not providing an avenue for students to build their own startups, according to a leading advocate for international students.

Sanam Arora, one of The PIE’s 50 Voices in Europe and director of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union in the UK, said that the country is “missing a big trick” by not “tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit”.

“In Hindi, we have a term called Jugaad, which means innovation and disruption – and getting things done,” Arora told delegates during the Live and Spontaneous PIE Chat Live panel at the PIE Live Europe.

“We say in India that Jugaad is built into our DNA, and it is true to a certain degree.

“I think given some of the challenges we face economically and sociopolitically we just find a way around things, and get things done. There is a genuine entrepreneurial spirit that I feel we’re not tapping into,” she explained.

Shivani Bhalla, who heads up international recruitment at Brunel University London, agreed, telling delegates about a group of international students she encountered from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, who launched an unofficial food startup during their studies through lockdown.

“They were supplying home-cooked meals at very reasonable prices to dorms and different accommodations,” Bhalla recounted.

“We don’t have a direct route to the startup eco-system”

She also explained that during lockdown restrictions in the UK, international students still in the country were able to come up with “amazing ideas whilst locked in their rooms”.

“There is so much of this excitement and zest in the youth of today, to do something extraordinary. As universities, we should be their platform and their incubators,” she insisted.

Arora referred to the discussion in the UK policy update panel, wherein the idea of extending part-time working hours for international students, and by how much, was a hot topic.

“However, we don’t have a direct route [for international students] to the startup eco-system.

“So we must ask, do we have a Silicon Valley-esque feature for international students? For instance, come to study here, start their businesses here, bring that diversity of perspective and solve those global issues but solve them from Britain – so that we can have the companies of the future instead of losing them to the US,” Arora added.

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Universities Australia has welcomed Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’s four-day visit to China where he will seek to attract Chinese students to the state.

During his trip Andrews has visited senior Chinese officials to discuss education, trade and cultural issues.

The visit has been met with controversy after Andrews failed to invite any Australian media, with MPs arguing the exclusion would mean the public would have to rely on Chinese state media for coverage.

However, Universities Australia, has noted the importance of drawing more Chinese international students to Australia.

“We welcome reports of improvements in our trade relationship with China,” Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson told The PIE News.

“China is our largest trading partner and our biggest source market of international students, with some 136,000 Chinese students now studying in Australia.

“Increasing the flow of international students, not just from China but all around the world, to Australia is good for our economy, communities and diplomacy. Education is our largest services export and added almost $41 billion to the economy in 2019,” Jackson added.

Andrews has come under fire after politicians complained about the lack of transparency surrounding the visit.

Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson, who is the co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said that the premier’s decision to travel without media was ‘unorthodox’ as reported by Guardian Australia earlier this week.

“The Victorian taxpayers who will pick up the tab for the trip are entitled to full disclosure about where he’s going, who he’s seeing, what they discuss and what outcomes are secured,” he told Guardian Australia.

“He should articulate what the purpose is, why he’s going, what are the outcomes he’s seeking to achieve for Victoria from this secret trip that he will not take any reporters on.”

However, federal Labor MPs said the trip would help the government to stabilise Australia’s relationship with China.

Labor MP Peter Khalil, the chair of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security said the trip will enhance Australia’s economic links, particularly with respect to encouraging international students to study in the country.

The premier’s office has gradually released details of Andrews’ trip, with his office saying that on Tuesday he had a “very positive” meeting with China’s minister of education Huai Jinpeng.

In the meeting Andrews said that Chinese students were “safe and respected in Victoria”.

“Further exchanges of postgraduate students were canvassed”

“The minister indicated Chinese parents would be more likely to send their children to study in Victoria than other places,” a statement from the premier’s office said.

“Further exchanges of postgraduate students were canvassed – which could include short stay or longer exchanges for master’s students and PhD candidates.”

Sky News also reported that Andrews’s updated schedule reveals “sister state arrangements” were a key topic of conversation when the premier met with Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries vice president Li Xukui.

Victoria currently has a number of sister city agreements with provinces in China – which include partnerships around education.

“There was also a discussion of more students in Melbourne studying complementary medicine and the prospect of traditional Chinese medicine companies visiting Melbourne,” a statement from the premier’s office added.

Australia is working hard to draw back international students to the country, with the government relaxing student visa work limits across all sectors of the economy.

There have been concerns around the relaxation of these work limits, including reports that international students have been arriving in Australia on university courses and then switching to vocational or private colleges which have more flexible study options.

Australia has also announced that international higher education graduates with eligible qualifications will be granted an extra two years of post-study work rights.

A recent piece of research in which market intelligence firm BONARD surveyed some 350 Chinese students, found that 39% would consider studying in Australia.

Australia was beaten to the top spot by the UK – with 45% of students saying they would consider studying in the country.

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Almost two-thirds of international students in Ireland have experienced or witnessed racism, according to a new report from the Irish Council of International Students. 

Verbal abuse was the most common form of racism reported by the 428 participants in the study, which included higher education and English language students. Some respondents were subject to multiple forms of racism, according to the Speak Out Against Racism report. 

Only 10% of all participants affected by racism reported it to authorities, with reasons for not doing so including language barriers, not knowing how to report and a belief that nothing would be done. 

The study notes that students feel reporting is ineffective “as the authorities seem unable or unwilling to do anything about racism, or even provide support to victims”. 

Laura Harmon, executive director of ICOS, described the results as “alarming”. 

One student said she was shouted at on public transport while another reported being racially targeted at her shared accommodation. The authors of the report also noted that discrimination is prevalent in the provision of accommodation, with one student facing rejection from a housing application after being told “foreigners” were not welcome. 

Racism also happened in the workplace, with students saying they were treated differently to other colleagues or experienced racism from customers. There were reports of physical abuse including assault, objects being thrown at students and being spat at. 

“Perpetrators of racism are everywhere and not confined to one place”

Of the 77 participants who said they were studying in higher education, 25 had experienced racism on campus. 

“It is clear from the findings that perpetrators of racism are everywhere and not confined to one place, which is why we need a whole-of-society approach to tackle the issue,” said Harmon. 

The Irish government published a national action plan against racism in March 2023, which allocated €1 million in funding to anti-racism initiatives. 

Harmon said this represents “an important step towards combating racial discrimination and promoting equality”. 

“However, while legislation and strategies to tackle racial discrimination are essential, there must also be a genuine commitment at the highest level across government to prioritise addressing racism, including the allocation of sufficient resources,” she added. 

ICOS called for more information to be available to international students about racism, as well as more advocacy and better support and procedures for dealing with racism. The group said these actions should be taken by policymakers, English language schools and higher education institutions.

“Awareness raising of human and equality rights, education and diversity initiatives, and better reporting mechanisms and supports for victims of racism, are among the key areas that will need more investment,” Harmon said. 

“Everyone who studies in Ireland should feel safe here, whether that’s on campus, on the street, on public transport, in work or socialising in bars and restaurants.

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Trying to use “low-hanging fruit” to score points in terms of your organisation’s equality, diversity and inclusion efforts won’t get you very far, one university representative said on a recent panel.

The PIE Live’s discussion on diversity, equality and inclusion gave delegates the chance to think about how one can “authentically” engage underserved populations and what long-term approaches organisations must make.

Isaac Garcia-Sitton, who works in international admissions at Toronto Metropolitan University and focuses on equity and diversity, said that the process must start before international students even arrive.

“What we try to do is find a more balanced approach at devising the admissions processes, so it’s more accessible,” he said.

He also mentioned that, especially in light of the visa processing issues that have been occurring in major destinations like Canada, those delays “need to be considered” if an institution “really wants to be more equitable”.

Duolingo English Test’s Tamsin Thomas said that underserved students “understand their social capital better than anyone” – and what they want out of a study abroad experience.

“I’ve worked at universities where study abroad departments were struggling to get students, and the word that was going round the institution was that they don’t want to go abroad. At the same time, they couldn’t find overseas places.

“We try to find a more balanced approach at devising the admissions processes”

“I think we have to be really conscious that our expectations of study abroad are coming from our own experiences, and a reflection of our backgrounds, whereas others know very concretely what they want to get out of their experience.

“We must make sure that we build education abroad programs to meet the needs of specific groups,” Thomas pointed out.

Also from an outbound perspective, IIE’s Courtney Temple touched on the organisation’s American Passport Project to grant passports to students who wouldn’t otherwise get an opportunity to study abroad.

“It is the first thing that opens up their world to [that possibility], so we’re starting at the front of the funnel because you’ve got to get individuals in play before you can really make change across the board,” Temple said.

When dealing with students from marginalised populations on campus, Alice McCallum, SIO for the Middle East and Africa at the University of Sussex told delegates it’s about making sure all staff are aware – especially with emerging issues such as pronouns, misgendering and biases.

“It’s about dealing with our unconscious biases”

“It’s about dealing with our unconscious biases – I think to an extent it’s about preparing us, the staff, and giving them the training that they need – not the one hour training that doesn’t make people question things or make a difference.

“You should be bringing in speakers that know their stuff, people who can ask challenging questions and make a roomful of listeners feel a little bit uncomfortable,” said McCallum.

“Whatever webinars, whatever support you have for students in finding the clubs and the societies that help them find their people – or however they choose to find those people – make sure that’s fully supported,” she added.

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A new development from technology company Enroly has gone under the radar in recent weeks but has massive implications on how universities can now benchmark their international admissions performance against the sector.

Currently only operating in the UK, Enroly has partnered with more than a quarter of British universities who use their CAS Shield platform to support international enrolments.

Unlike other tech platforms, the Enroly software sits within the university walls as part of admissions dashboards and, as a consequence, hundreds of thousands of applications are now passing through the system in real-time.

It also allows more than 5,000 international agents to self-serve application updates on behalf of students, including notifications on when they have received their visa.

Another crucial factor is that this growing data lake includes postgraduate applicants, the study level with by far the largest international student growth in the UK, as well as undergraduate applicants.

As a consequence Enroly is now the biggest single source of data on international students confirming places in the UK sector, rivaling the size of UCAS or any major global recruitment agents, and can actually show significant insights into cross-sector patterns that have been previously unavailable.

The latest update from Enroly now allows licensed partners to compare their own performance on metrics like speed of offer, global market share, popularity of courses against the sector and essentially where to divert their operational resources.

Speaking about the development, Heath Aster, head of international operations at University of Chester, said, “Being able to look in real time at how an institution is doing in terms of attracting students and managing the visa and compliance processes, compared to a competing university or the industry average is powerful.

“This insight can help to improve the student experience and ensure the onboarding process runs smoothly. There are so many ways a tool like this will help the sector succeed,” Aster continued.

In addition to the University of Chester, other institutions who have been quick to embrace the new data tool include Aston University and Oxford Brookes University.

Institutions can analyse their own information easily using data insights to monitor progress towards business goals too. The tool can help them track performance towards targets on international student recruitment and cut the time it takes to move students through the compliance process, in accordance with UKVI requirements.

Many universities work with UCAS and analysts such as dataHE to interpret application trends across the sector and improve forecasting within their institution. Many senior leaders will now be looking at Enroly as a potential window to postgraduate insights and seeing the benefit of unilaterally using the same platform to record accurate data.

A similar situation exists in Australia with the majority of institutions choosing to work with Studylink to support postgraduate applications and achieve a sector wide view of destination data and service standards.

“Out of date data stifles the sector’s ability to drive efficiency and shift quickly”

“One of the major issues key decision makers in international student recruitment face is that the information they need can take months or even years to collate, so it is always already out of date by the time they receive it. This stifles the sector’s ability to drive efficiency and shift quickly in response to changing global markets,” Jeff Williams, CEO and co-founder of Enroly, said.

“The data insights now available on our platform gives universities the tools they need to be data-driven. It puts real-time information into the hands of those who need it to get students onboard more efficiently, with a better experience, and makes it easier for them to tap into developing markets to offer quality higher education across the world.”

The latest development is another example of innovation from the private sector outstripping institutional or government level systems and the increased reliance on public-private partnerships in higher education to keep pace with global competition.

What other ways are UK institutions gathering sector-wide international application data? How do you feel about a private sector company tracking application flows rather than government or public agency? Comment below or email us at editorial@thepienews.com 

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As I sat on a train weaving its way along Wales’ border with England, I found myself reflecting on an inspiring couple of days which began with The PIE Live Europe conference in London and ended with a spotlight on international education at the Senedd.

Between both, it’s fair to say that no international education shaped stone has been left unturned last week!

It was a privilege to be invited back to speak at this year’s PIE Live Europe. We’ve got a good story to tell in Wales and I felt a particular sort of pride in showcasing the significant investment that is being made here in international education.

The innovative programs that we’ve developed – from the establishment of Global Wales in 2015 to the launch of the Welsh government’s ambitious mobility scheme, Taith – are rightly drawing international attention. Taith, by the way, means journey in Welsh.

My own taith isn’t altogether uncommon. A first language Welsh speaker, educated through the medium of Welsh, I took to modern languages, pursued them and developed a taste for all things international. Coincidence? I don’t believe so.

Wales has a particular advantage within the UK of being proudly bilingual which is proven to boost cultural understanding, tolerance and an aptitude for language learning. By now my daughters are two of the one million Welsh speakers that the Welsh government is hoping to have reached by 2050.

Which brings me to the Senedd; the home of Welsh politics since 1999. Into which last week we invited two enthusiastic Global Wales scholars.

Amy from Vietnam and Darcie from Canada were gushing about the warmth of their welcome and their experience of studying in Wales. The contribution of Darcie, Amy and their peers so valuable to creating a thriving, inclusive and outward-looking Wales.

Darcie and Amy are by no means alone. They are part of a growing community of around 25,000 international students and over 2,000 international staff studying or working in Welsh universities and contributing over £600m in export earnings annually. Through Global Wales, we support an increased flow of diversified international talent into Wales, stimulate international partnerships for Welsh institutions and raise their profile in key overseas markets.

In 2022/23 Global Wales expects to have reached around 150 million prospective students through its Study in Wales campaigns, funded 45 Global Wales scholars – including those in delivered in partnership with the Fulbright, Chevening and Gilman programs – supported at least 25 institutional partnerships and delivered a number of strategic inward and outward delegations, including a recent visit of 20 heads of German Universities of Applied Sciences to Wales.

It will have also established strategic relationships with the Flanders Research Foundation and the Karnataka State Government in India.

“In 2019, the Welsh government announced that Wales would become the world’s first Nation of Sanctuary”

But international education is about values. The Senedd also heard about Welsh universities’ partnerships with Ukrainian institutions. Much like their counterparts across the border, so much good work is being done by Welsh universities to support the sector in Ukraine – from supporting refugees in the community, to supplying IT equipment, and facilitating research collaboration.

What colleagues may not realise is that in 2019, the Welsh government announced that Wales would become the world’s first Nation of Sanctuary, a plan endorsed by the United Nations. That universities contribute so proactively to this welcoming, tolerant and inclusive Welsh agenda, and that we in Global Wales have been able to support these initiatives, is important.

Gorau Cymro, Cymro oddi cartre. So goes the Welsh expression. It suggests that the more time one spends away from Wales, the better the advocate one becomes. Perhaps.

It felt a bit like that at The PIE Live. I’m proud of what we’re doing here, proud to be proactively outward-looking and to be collaborating, innovating and, yes, leading the way on developing international education programs within the UK. Above all, proud to be distinctly, bilingually, globally Cymraeg.

About the author: Gwen Williams is Assistant Director at membership body Universities Wales representing the interests of Wales’ nine universities. Gwen has responsibility for international and heads the Global Wales program. She joined the organisation in 2014 as International Policy Adviser. Prior to that she held a number of roles in Brussels in the European Parliament, UK Representation to the EU, and Welsh Higher Education Brussels.

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Online education agency Studee has raised a total of £16.5 million to invest in its application service to “transform” the recruitment of international students.

The personal investment by CEO and co-founder, Chris Morling, will allow the company to launch a service designed to “deliver pre-assessed, admission-ready applications” from diverse markets, and also help students to maximise their chances of admission.

“It has become obvious that simply sending students’ applications over to international departments was not sustainable for stretched university teams,” said Studee’s Chris Morling, on the launch on the service.

“Simply sending applications to international departments was not sustainable for stretched teams”

“Our new launch is a game changer for both universities and students,” he continued.

For universities, Studee wanted to ensure that poor-quality international applications are not made to universities, the company maintained.

The rise of digital application tools simplifying the application process for students has led to application overload and low conversion, stakeholders have previously warned.

The new service, however, “takes the burden off admissions teams by only sending them applications that actually meet their criteria and maximises students’ chances of getting admitted to their chosen universities”, Morling said.

Studee also noted that the platform does not require marketing budget as universities only pay when students enrol. Through the service, only applicants that meet admissions criteria are funnelled directly into recruitment teams’ CRMs.

Each application receives an 85-point check from an expert advisor and Studee’s blend of automation and expert human advice offers “personalised matching, guidance to enrolment, and application assessment”.

The service also pledges to regularly update universities and students with the application process.

“I strongly believe Studee has the ability to shake up the international education industry and my investment demonstrates my confidence that there is no better industry to push forward innovation,” Morling concluded.

The investment is an increase on the £5 million investment Morling made in 2019, after selling his Fintech business money.co.uk two years earlier.

Studee also has ambitions to alleviate the sector’s carbon footprint contribution. Its Trees for Degrees project sees it plant trees for every student enrolled and Studee has received the environmental standard B Corp certification.

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New opportunities are emerging for ASEAN transnational education, including those which can be transformative if developed maturely, openly and in collaboration, sector leaders have agreed.

“The changes in the market post-covid for international education means that there are new opportunities and we are certainly seeing an increased interest in students entering their own study trajectory where they’re looking to create their own study journey,” said Melissa Banks, head of international education centre of excellence, Austrade.

She added that students are interested in dual degrees and embarking upon studies which allow them to “mix up” their education with a combination of international and local curriculum and support via study centres and online study.

“Times are changing and new opportunities are emerging,” said Banks.

The comments were made during a ASEAN-Australia TNE Workshop hosted by Austrade at the APAIE 2023 conference in Bangkok.

According to Universities Australia, universities in the country had 9,831 formal institution-to-institution agreements with global partners in 2020, of which around 1,100 were with ASEAN countries.

The majority of those agreements were focused on academic research collaboration, followed by staff and student exchange.

“There’s a really rich tradition of existing partnerships we can draw on,” said Michael Helleman, senior trade and investment commissioner, Thailand and Laos, Austrade.

Han Xiao Zhang, counsellor (education and research) for Jakarta, the Australian Embassy, spoke about TNE opportunities in Indonesia from an Australian perspective.

“What I’m seeing in Indonesia, and perhaps this is a reflection of the broader Southeast Asia, is that there is a growing appetite from some of these governments and that filters down through institutions in terms of international engagement,” he said.

“The Indonesian government, in terms of its TNE options, is starting to really ramp up some of these internationalisation programs.”

According to Zhang, scholarship funding from the Indonesian government has doubled in two years and the Ministry of Education has quadrupled its international research funding.

“I think the opportunities are there, but it needs to be in areas of priority for the government itself.”

Zhang highlighted that sectors which are of strong interest to the Indonesian government are green and blue economies and digitisation.

“From a foreign university perspective, in terms of partnerships, you really need to think about whether those areas are in alignment with what your strengths are as well,” he added.

Zhang highlighted further opportunities in the corporate space in Indonesia, including a “relatively new trend” in which industries are indicating an interest in upskilling their workforce by turning to foreign universities.

“We’ve seen some real fine examples of Indonesian state-owned enterprises coming to Australian institutions, seeking our assistance in terms of their skill development.”

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, 85% of parents surveyed by Acumen indicated an openness to international programs delivered in Vietnam, as well as a clear preference for international over local programs.

As for what makes a TNE agreement enduring, Hellemen noted that any partnership should “respond to each other’s real needs and bring real value to one another”.

“I think the partnerships that work best are the ones that really go beyond just education partnership and moving in to collaborative research and also involves staff training and co-curricular development,” added Banks.

“That way the students and the staff are the beneficiaries of all of this work that we’re doing and are gaining a true international education but from the comfort potentially of their homes and in their own cities.”

According to Seth Kunin, deputy vice-chancellor at Curtin University, the aspect of collaboration an co-creation is “fundamental” to create something that transforms both universities.

“You have to expect that every country is going to be different”

“You have to expect that every country is going to be different,” said Kunin.

Kunin urged stakeholders to understand the regulatory environment – including accreditation and governmental requirements – of the potential partner’s location “very well” before carrying out any kind of TNE relationship.

“ASEAN is not homogenous, there are very different motivations for TNE across different countries, different models that work in different countries, and a different perspective that you need to bring,” said Jen Bahen, counsellor for education and research, Vietnam and Thailand, Australian Embassy.

Laurene Chua-Garcia, vice president for external relations and internationalisation, De La Salle University, spoke about some of the misconceptions of collaborating with institutions in the Philippines.

“A lot of people tend to look at the Philippines as just a third-world country but if I should use De La Salle as an example… we have a presence in every continent except Antartica,” she said.

“There’s this expectation from ASEAN that the first-world country schools know what to do and are more professional. The Philippines may have been relegated to being a third-world country in ASEAN but we are well trained and the training continues.”

Chua-Garcia also warned that some TNE partners in the past have been pursuing a “one-way street” agreement.

“They just want to tell us ‘bring your students to us, bring your students to us!’ What happened to a bilateral or fair exchange?”

For Thailand, the future of TNE collaboration is “open”, said Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti, vice president for international relations and corporate communication, Mahidol University. She further highlighted Chua-Garcia’s point about one-sided partnerships.

“It’s pretty outdated to only ask international partners what they can provide for you.”

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Testing provider PSI delivered some 22 million assessments worldwide in 2022, an increase of five million on the previous year.

The English language testing portfolio is one of PSI’s fastest-growing parts of the business, which includes its Home Office-approved Secure English Language Test.

The Skills for English test – created in partnership between the Scottish Qualifications Authority and PSI – was approved by UK government for visas and immigration in 2020. More recently authorities in Ireland also approved the test for study visa qualification.

It is also used for non-visa purposes through live online proctored delivery.

PSI noted that the five-fold year-on-year growth has been driven by test centre and online proctoring expansion, while demand for SELTs has been “exceptionally strong” in Africa and South East Asia.

The provider said it has “consistently implemented a strategy of opening Skills for English test centres in countries underserved by other providers”.

It now offers testing in 300 Home Office-approved test centres in 128 countries, “more countries than any other SELT provider”, it emphasised.

There are eight countries where Skills for English is the only UK-approved SELT available: Barbados; Bolivia; Côte d’Ivoire; Gambia; Guyana; and Haiti.

In July 2022, it also opened the first approved test centre in Libya, shortly after the British Embassy in Tripoli was reopened.

“The opening of the test centre in Libya marks another step towards providing greater access for Libyans to work or study opportunities in the UK,” British ambassador, Caroline Hurndall, said at the time.

“We commend PSI and its partners for their commitment to opening up this valuable new channel.”

It also recently partnered with International House World Organisation to offer tests at the global network of 150 affiliated language schools in over 50 countries.

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A director at a Dutch university has called the “cease and desist order” given to the country’s institutions on international student recruitment “a wake-up call”.

During the PIE Live Europe’s European Panel of Presidents, Breda University of Applied Sciences’s director academy of tourism Perry Hobson talked about the difficult situation Dutch institutions have been put in through the ongoing discussion on recruitment of non-EU students.

“Essentially, at the moment Dutch universities are waiting to hear back from the [education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf] as to what the future of recruitment will be,” he told delegates.

In the meantime, he recounted, a letter that was sent to universities late 2022 has already asked them to halt international student recruitment until a solution can be found.

While Breda garners most of its international student body from within the EU, Hobson has long been an advocate for international recruitment across the board.

“For universities who get more students from outside the EU this is quite a challenging situation,” he commented.

The Dutch parliament will be debating the topic on April 13, and a letter that was due to be imminently sent to parliament by the education minister has now reportedly been delayed until May – keeping public institutions in a state of limbo.

“This is quite a challenging situation”

Hobson told delegates that the situation could play out in a number of ways, but one that was particularly likely was that some universities – namely applied science universities – may be given a certain quota for international recruitment.

“The Dutch government may well say, ‘look, we’re happy for you to recruit international students because we see how it feeds the labour market needs’, but not enough are staying in the Netherlands, only 20-25%.

“It may then say, ‘we need you to help teach Dutch language and Dutch culture as part of the degree’. And as such, a pushback may materialise due to the fact Dutch universities have never been told what they can and cannot teach.

“That’s become a red line from the Dutch universities point of view. If it’s that issue today, what will it be tomorrow?”

With this quota being a possibility for applied science universities, it is unclear what the situation might be for research institutions, like the University of Twente.

The university put out an update on March 27 about its stance on the internationalisation debate, stating that its wish is to “continue to warmly welcome international staff and students in the coming period”.

It also made its position clear on the Dutch language issue, stating “we understand this desire and are happy to cooperate with sufficient attention to Dutch in and around the university.

“This can be done, for example, by looking at opportunities to offer programmes in both Dutch and English, but also by checking whether our language policy is sufficiently in line with this desire,” it warned.

“With certain types of programs, there is more pressure”

Hobson also touched on the fact that the ongoing issue was initially born out of a record number of international students in the country, a large number of which could then not afford or find housing, something Dijkgraaf cited as a pressing issue in an interview with The PIE in November 2022.

“Some pressure from the Dutch universities has come from themselves, wanting to climb up the rankings and wanting to recruit a broader range of students,” said Hobson.

“With certain types of programs, there is more pressure. One of my own classes in international tourism, for example, has 19 nationalities in it, and only six of them are Dutch students.”

His final warning came from the prediction of difficult positions that universities across the country may face if a quota for certain universities is put in place.

“I think the confusion will come from the possibility that some universities – those in applied sciences – may be able to get more international students, whereas other research universities won’t.”

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