Nuffic Report on International Students

Nuffic is a Dutch organization that is dedicated to the internationalization of education in the Netherlands. Their mission statement can be surmised as ‘for every pupil and student to gain international experience’. You can find out more about Nuffic’s goals on their website [with both English and Dutch text], where you can also download the most recent report(s).

The organization releases various reports and conducts research continuously, and is therefore a good resource for anyone starting a business in the Northern Netherlands, especially as market research, or when considering recruitment. Released at the end of 2017, the ‘International degree students in the Netherlands: a regional analysis‘ report provides insights into country of origin, course, and crucially the ‘stay rate’ in each region.

Some of the findings specific to the Northern Netherlands are set out below:

• There are around 22,000 German students in the Netherlands, the largest nationality group. The most popular subjects are Economics, Business and Human/Social sciences. German students also tend to prefer cities and universities closer to the border
• The number of British students has quadrupled in the 5 years to 2017. The University of Groningen is the main choice for British students outside of Amsterdam
• Students from Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Poland are particularly attracted to ICT courses, as well as Hotel Management
• Between 36% and 42% of international graduates have stayed in the Netherlands 5-years after graduating
• The ‘Overig Groningen’ COROP area has the highest ‘stay rate’ of any area outside of the Randstad, and is 6th overall in the country