The University of Twente is welcoming more new students this academic year than last year. The number of students starting a bachelor's at UT this year is 2,087, four per cent more than last year. For masters, the increase is even higher, eight per cent. 1,248 students started a master's degree at UT. The increase in the number of enrolments is higher than the national average.
Bachelor
The four per cent increase in the bachelor's is mainly due to an increase in the number of non-EU students, 292 this year. In recent years, this number had decreased. With the increase, UT is not yet at the level of 2021, when 350 non-EU students started at UT.
The increase in the Technical Computer Science programme is also noteworthy. Until last year, this programme had a numerus fixus, but this is no longer in force. As a result, the number of students increased by about 100.
UT also managed to attract more students from the west of the Netherlands. In the past year, the UT put a lot of effort in its recruitment activities to increase its brand awareness in this region. These efforts seem to be paying off, with ten per cent more applications from the west of the Netherlands.
Master
The growth in masters is mainly due to more students choosing to continue their studies here for a master's after completing a bachelor's at UT. This throughput, which is an important source for master's programmes, increased by 12 per cent. Seven in 10 master's students had already completed a bachelor's or pre-master's degree at UT.
The number of students opting for a university master's after HBO also increased: six per cent. To facilitate a smooth transfer, UT works closely with universities of applied sciences in the wider region, such as Saxion and Windesheim.
Maintaining student numbers
For the University of Twente, maintaining the number of students is of great importance. Demographic trends predict a decline in the number of young people in the region in the coming years. Therefore, international intake is also highly relevant. However, this is under pressure due to the political debate to limit internationalisation in higher education. At the bachelor's, 44 per cent of new students are international, while at the master's it is 38 per cent.
Retention of students is desirable for several reasons, such as societal relevance. There is a major shortage in the labour market, especially in the technical sectors, but also in others. UT, therefore, wants to educate as many young people as possible to meet that demand.
Sufficient mass is also needed to offer efficient education. With enough students, universities can maintain courses for very specific fields of study. Thus, with fewer students, the offer for all students may also become more limited.
Preliminary figures
The national figures announced today are provisional figures. The final figures for the current academic year will become available in the first quarter of 2025 and will then be published by UNL. Undergraduate intake refers to the number of students who have not previously been enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate programme at a Dutch university. Master intake refers to students enrolled for the first time in a wo-master's programme.
