The decline at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is due to a fall in the number of students pursuing Associate degrees (-8.8 per cent) and foreign Bachelor's students (-6.2 per cent). Meanwhile, the number of new Dutch Bachelor's students has increased by 1.5 per cent. Thus, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is ahead of the national trend. The number of new Master's students has also increased, by 2.7 per cent.
This slight increase in enrolment on higher education programmes is partly due to an increase in enrolment on Bachelor's programmes in the healthcare (+15%) and arts (+19.8%) sectors. Within the education sector, Teacher Training for Primary Education rose by 9 per cent.
“It is encouraging to see stable domestic enrolment in bachelor's programmes and an increase in sectors experiencing shortages, such as healthcare and education,” commented Sarah Wilton-Wels, Chair of the Executive Board at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. “At the same time, however, enrolment in higher education as a whole is on a downward trend, a decline that we are also experiencing. The decline in technical programmes, which can also be seen nationwide, is particularly worrying.”
Enrolment in associate degree programmes has declined by 8.8 per cent, whereas nationally there has been growth.
The national enrolment figures for higher education, as published by the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, can be found here on the website of Vereniging Hogescholen.
Explanation figures
Slight decline in new enrolment
The number of first-year students who are new to a higher education programme at RUAS is slightly lower than last year (-1.2%). This means that the trend at RUAS is in line with the national figures (-0.6 per cent).
|
New enrolment in higher education |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
’24-‘25 |
|
Rotterdam Uni. of Applied Sciences |
9.041 |
9.098 |
8.993 |
-1,2% |
Decline in associate degrees
With an increase of 0.7 per cent in enrolment on bachelor's programmes, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is ahead of the national trend of a 1.8 per cent decrease. Although there has been a national increase (+5.3%), Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences has seen fewer enrolments in associate degree programmes than last year (-8.8%). However, enrolment in master's programmes is higher than in 2024 (+2.7%), which is also the case nationally (+4.3%). The range of master's programmes will be expanded in the coming years.
|
Enrolment RUAS |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
’24-‘25 |
|
Total |
9.041 |
9.098 |
8.993 |
-1,2% |
|
Bachelor |
6.654 |
6.681 |
6.729 |
+0,7% |
|
Associate degree |
1.844 |
1.907 |
1.740 |
-8,8% |
|
Masters degree |
543 |
510 |
524 |
+2,7% |
Fewer new international students in particular
Compared to last year, there has been a significant decrease of 6.2 per cent in the number of international bachelor's students this year. Conversely, the number of Dutch students enrolled in bachelor's programmes has increased by 1.5 per cent. Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences' figures are slightly ahead of the national trend (-1.6 per cent).
|
BA inflow RUAS |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
’24-‘25 |
|
Total |
6.654 |
6.681 |
6.729 |
+0,7% |
| NL |
5.822 |
5.974 |
6.066 |
+1,5% |
| non-NL |
832 |
707 |
663 |
-6,2% |
Increase in new enrolment in Healthcare and Arts
Compared to last year, the Arts sector has seen the largest increase this year (+19.8 per cent), followed by the Healthcare sector (+15 per cent). The abolition of the numerus fixus for physiotherapy has played an important role in increasing enrolment on healthcare study programmes at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Enrolment on nursing programmes has also increased by 10 per cent compared to last year. Nationwide, enrolment in nursing programmes has remained stable.
The growth in the arts sector is mainly a recovery from a dip in 2024. Current enrolment has returned to the level seen in 2023.
Overall, enrolment in the education sector is stable (-0.1%), but Teacher Training Primary Education has seen a 9% increase in enrolment compared to last year. Nationwide, enrolment in teacher training programmes has increased by 1.9 per cent.
However, enrolment at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences has fallen in the Technology (-4.9%), Economics (-2.3%) and Social Sciences (-1.2%) sectors. Nationwide, technical studies have declined by 7.5 per cent and programmes in the economics sector have declined by 1.9 per cent.
|
BA Inflow RUAS |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
’24-‘25 |
|
Bachelor total |
6.654 |
6.681 |
6.729 |
+0,7% |
|
Economics |
2.548 |
2.767 |
2.704 |
-2,3% |
|
Technical programmes |
1.709 |
1.563 |
1.487 |
-4,9% |
|
Healthcare |
783 |
793 |
912 |
+15,0% |
|
Education |
768 |
784 |
783 |
-0,1% |
|
Social |
416 |
401 |
396 |
-1,2% |
|
Arts (Language and Culture) |
430 |
373 |
447 |
+19,8% |
Disclaimer
The above data is taken from a provisional file sourced from Studielink. The enrolment figures only include students starting the relevant type of higher education for the first time (bachelor's, associate degree or master's). This definition aligns with that used to determine enrolment at a national level.