An expected hike in tuition prices at UK universities has led to students from the EU to start looking at universities elsewhere, in particular, the Netherlands and Germany.

Students turn to Dutch universities

According to a recent study, UK universities could lose up to 84 percent of their EU student intake to mainland European universities due to Brexit. The main reason for this is an expected increase in university tuition fees, with the price of some courses rising by between 75 and 125 percent. EU students could also face losing access to public student loans if they decide to study at a UK institution.

According to the study, which was undertaken by Study.eu and surveyed 2.505 people, The Netherlands came out as a top destination, with Germany coming in second, for EU students that were previously considering studying in the UK. 49 percent of respondents chose the Netherlands as their alternative study destination.

In 2019, over 94.000 international students were enrolled in a Dutch university. 64.138 international students were doing a bachelor’s degree and 30.098 were undertaking master’s degrees. Last year, international students accounted for 12,3 percent of all students enrolled in Dutch universities.

The cost of education

It was recently announced that EU students would lose their “home” fee status in England for the 2021/22 academic year, as well as public student loans. Currently, EU students already pay 9000 pounds a year to study at an English university, with this figure now expected to rise.

Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, European universities have been increasing the number of English-language courses available to students. Gerrit Blöss, CEO of Study.eu, explained that “most universities have been overhauling their marketing and recruitment campaigns for a while,” adding to an already perilous situation for UK universities trying to attract international students in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Britain’s universities have a lot to offer, but they are facing strong competition on the continent. If they want to continue to attract students from the EU, they will need to communicate their excellent value proposition and make it clear that EU students are still welcome,” said Blöss.

This article first appeared in IamExpat in Germany.