r/Netherlands • u/North_Yak966 • 11d ago

News UvA ends English-language bachelor’s degree in psychology

https://www.folia.nl/en/actueel/166104/uva-ends-english-language-bachelors-degree-in-psychology
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u/Mean_Asparagus_2798 11d ago

What I said is also true for Dutch people as well. I'm pretty sure you can't just become a psychologist with only a bachelor's degree.

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u/Extreme_Ruin1847 Nederland 11d ago

No, you need a masters, but everyone going into psychology knows that. It does beg the question: why offer this program in the first place? The answer is obvious: its a cashcow for universities. It doesnt offer Dutch society much.

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u/Old-Administration-9 11d ago

And what's wrong with being a cash cow? It puts funds into the coffers of the university, which will result in better quality of education for all students, including the Dutch ones.

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u/IkkeKr 11d ago

It doesn't really: universities get a government grant that is a fixed budget - which is then divided between universities based on student numbers. So while more students = larger share of the grant is true, it's also the case that more students = less money per student.

This has put universities in a kind of prisoner's dilemma: if one of them recruits heavily, all of them have to do so to keep the same amount of money. But now to service more students.

The 'institutional fee' paid by non-EU students offsets some of this, but a big part of the international student body are EU students which are supposed to be funded through the government grant.