The publication of this week's 1cHO facts and figures shows a continuing trend, as the university is seeing a strong increase in students opting for a technical degree. Overall, this year saw a 7% increase in the number of new enrolments at UT, which exceeds the national average of 5%.
Growth in technology programmes
In 2017, UT already welcomed 1,955 new Bachelor’s students. This year, the number grew to 2,231 – a 14% increase. One of the main driving forces behind the University of Twente’s recent growth is the increasing number of new students choosing a technical degree programme. Together, UT’s technical programmes welcomed 19% more students compared to last year.
Engineering degrees such as Mechanical Engineering were especially popular this year, as well as programmes in IT, physics and biomedical technology. The university also sees an increase in the number of international student enrolments – from Europe and beyond. At the moment, the student population is made up of no fewer than 67 different nationalities. This brings the percentage of new international students to 35% of the total number of newly enrolled Bachelor's students.
The Master’s programmes show a slightly lower student influx, caused mainly by the low number of students that enrolled in UT Bachelor’s programmes in 2015 – a cohort that is now moving on to postgraduate degrees. In total, 1,251 students enrolled in a Master’s programme at UT this past September. Among these programmes, Systems and Control and Interaction Technology stand out for their rapid growth. This data includes the majority of new Master’s students coming to UT from another university this academic year. These so-called ‘external’ students will also be able to enrol next February. Students who received their Bachelor’s degree from UT can enrol in one of UT’s Master’s programmes monthly until June, 2019. Only then will we have a complete picture of the number of Master’s enrolments.
Urgent need
Just like last year, there is an urgent need for more graduates with a technical profile, says Victor van der Chijs, president of the University of Twente: “The demand for technically trained graduates is still increasing. And not just within the technical sector, but in other sectors too – like healthcare, for example. Even though our student population continues to grow, we are still not able to meet the current demand. As of yet, there’s been little need to implement admission quotas at UT, but we continue to see a strong increase in the pressure on technical degree programmes. Nevertheless, we want to hold on to small-scale, high-quality education.”
In spite of this increasing pressure, the university will first explore other options when it comes to streamlining student intake before resorting to more admission quotas, Van der Chijs adds. One such option is UT’s recently announced partnership with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to offer an engineering programme there. But the government must also do its part to aid these kinds of developments. “Extra investments by the national government in high-quality technological education and research have become inevitable. The funds currently available to us are insufficient for UT to meet society’s demands,” Van der Chijs concludes.
About 1cHO
The education database 1cijferHO is the number-one source for educational and student data in the Netherlands. It is published annually, in January. The database is a joint project of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, DUO, Statistics Netherlands, the Council for Higher Professional Education, and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands. It comprises data on student intake, current enrolments and degrees conferred, which can be used to assess student performance, study duration and drop-out rates.
