Maastricht University student numbers stabilise
This year, the total number of students at Maastricht University will probably still increase slightly to more than 23,000. Due to an estimated 3% decrease in the number of new students, this growth will level off. The ratio of Dutch to international students is also stabilising: among the new cohort, the proportion of Dutch students is increasing slightly. A large proportion of students still come from within Maastricht’s Euregion; over 50% of students come from within a 100-kilometre radius of Maastricht.
This is according to the university's provisional enrolment figures. Since there are always shifts during the first months of the academic year, the figures should be viewed with a degree of caution: the final numbers might still change by some percentage points over the coming months.
The preliminary figures are broadly in line with expectations and UM's policy. The university already indicated last year that we will keep an eye on how much growth the city of Maastricht can handle. Thanks in part to the municipality’s efforts, the supply of student housing is keeping up with developments. The university also wants new initiatives with growth potential to settle elsewhere in Limburg. This will happen in regions that best suit these initiatives, such as Venlo (sustainable food), Heerlen (data sciences) and Sittard-Geleen (circular technology).
Urgent need to train enough talent
At the same time, the university tries to ensure that the intake of students remains at a sufficient level: the region still has major labour shortages. There’s an urgent need to train enough talent to ensure the prosperity and wellbeing of Limburg and the Netherlands. With, among other things, an ageing population, sharply curbing the training of international talent would be a major problem. Studies commissioned by UM and Zuyd Hogeschool showed earlier this year that such rigorous measures would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs and an annual contraction of the economy by €1 billion a year in Limburg alone.
UM has been an international university for decades. The ratio of Dutch to international students, like total student numbers, seem to stabilise in the coming years. This year, 61% of the total student body is international (last year: 59%). The number of students from outside the EEA is still likely to rise slightly to almost 8% (last year: 7.6%). In total, students from 134 countries have now enrolled at UM. More than half of the students come from the surrounding Euroregion, the area within a 100-kilometre radius of Maastricht.
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