Netherlands  

1. A Brief Description of the Dutch Higher Education System

The Netherlands has a binary system of higher education, dividing wetenschappelijk onderwijs (WO) offered by universities, from hoger beroepsonderwijs (HBO) offered by institutions for higher vocational education, or hogeschole). In addition the Open University (state establishment) offers open distance learning courses at the HBO and university level. Most of the Open University students follow modules and single courses; only a small percentage attempts to add up various modules to a full degree.

University education. The Netherlands has thirteen universities (excluding the Open University). Public funds come through the Ministry of Education except for the Agricultural University in Wageningen, which is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries¹.

The central government grants are awarded as a lump sum to each university. Public funds for instruction are based on:

• The number of (Masters) degrees awarded (50%),
• The number of new entrants (13%), and
• A fixed amount per university (37%).

The budget of the individual university is determined by the levels of these performance indicators compared with levels at the other universities (and the trend in the overall budget)¹. In addition to the direct public funds, universities generate income from tuition fees, which are centrally fixed at a uniform rate (7% of total income), research councils (5% of total income) and contract activities (19 percent of total income).

Access to universities is open for all with an appropriate secondary education diploma. Only access to medical studies, dentistry and veterinary sciences is limited. Thus, in general, the intake of first-year students in the university sector is determined mainly by demographic trends: specifically, the number of school leavers qualifying for university education. However, in 1991 and 1996 measures were taken to reduce the number of students entering university via higher professional education. In the first half of the decade the number of new entrants to university education slightly declined, but started to increase again after 1996¹. As of 1999, the number of students in universities was 162,750.

Higher Professional Education: Higher professional education is extremely diverse: courses lead to over 200 different qualifications for a wide range of occupations. There are large HBO institutions offering a wide variety of courses in many different sectors and medium-sized and small colleges offering a small assortment in one sector only. Mergers have reduced the number of HBO institutions from almost 350 in mid-1980s to 58 by 1999. Courses are divided into seven sectors: Education, Agriculture, Engineering and Technology, Health Care, Economics, Behavior and Society, Language and Culture¹.

The overall budget for higher professional education is allocated to the individual institutions on the basis of a set formula, driven by two funding tariffs and an estimate of the teaching load. Since 1994 there has been a fixed budget, corrected for wage and price rises. In addition to the central government grant, the HBO institutions receive income from a variety of sources, including tuition fees and income from services to third parties (mainly contract teaching)¹. Interest in higher professional education (HBO) is steadily rising. The total number of students has risen from 256,000 in 1993 to 269,000 in 1998 (a 5 % increase)¹. As of 1999, there were about 305,800 students in HBO courses offered by 58 HBO institutions.

Since 1993 the higher vocational education institutions (HBOs) and universities have been governed by the same legislation: the Higher Education and Research Act (WHW). The WHW governs a wide range of matters including the planning, funding, administration and organization of the universities and the teaching they provide. This Act permits the institutions a large degree of autonomy to organize their teaching, examination regulations and other matters to meet changing demands¹.

II. Tuition Fees in the Netherlands

Student liability for tuition depends on whether the student is or is not eligible for student support. Students with support pay a governmentally-determined tuition; students without support pay tuition set by the institutional. Students not eligible for student support include part-time students as well as those full-time students who are not (or who are no longer) entitled to support because their personal income exceeds the income limits for student support, or because they already used all entitlements to student support.

In principle, all full-time students in Netherlands are entitled to a basic grant. Depending on parental income, they may also be entitled to q means-tested a supplementary grant for the normal duration of undergraduate studies (generally four and sometimes five years). After the "normal duration," students may take up loans for three additional years. In the first 13 months of this period of loan entitlement, students are known as "students exceeding the student support entitlement period," and their university may charge them an institutionally-established tuition fee.

III. Estimated Expenses of Higher Education in the Netherlands

The Netherlands
Higher Education Expenses Borne by Parents and Students
First Degree, Academic Year 1998-99
(Regular full time student, 10 months)

[National currency, Florin, converted to $US by purchasing power parity of $1 = NLG.2.00***]

Low Public: Living at home with parents.
Moderate Public: Living in shared apartment.
High Public: Living "independent adult."
Private: Living on campus.

* "Students who receive student support" pay the centrally determined tuition rate (fl. 2,750), "students who are not entitled to student support" pay an institutional rate (fl. 3,200). Thus, the costs of study for students who are not entitled to student support can be found by replacing tuition fee of fl.2,750 on the table with a tuition fee of fl.3,200.
** Lodging includes food.
***OECD (January, 2001). Purchasing Power Parities. Main Economic Indicators.
http://www.oecd.org/std/ppp1.pdf

Low Public: Living at home with parents.
Moderate Public: Living in shared apartment.
High Public: Living "independent adult."
Private: Living on campus.

* "Students who receive student support" pay the centrally determined tuition rate (fl. 2,750), "students who are not entitled to student support" pay an institutional rate (fl. 3,200). Thus, the costs of study for students who are not entitled to student support can be found by replacing tuition fee of fl.2,750 on the table with a tuition fee of fl.3,200.

** Lodging includes food.
***OECD (January, 2001). Purchasing Power Parities. Main Economic Indicators.
http://www.oecd.org/std/ppp1.pdf

3. References

Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Information Department. "Education in Netherlands". February 1998. http://www.minocw.nl/

Hans Vossensteyn, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente. Information obtained through e-mail correspondence, 2001.

HHM, DBJ