According to a report published last week in het Financieele Dagblad (FD), the Netherlands pays about 100 million euro for German students to study at the university level in the Netherlands, while Germany pays but a fraction of the costs as few Dutch students study in Germany. In 2007, some 16,000 German students were studying here while some 1,700 Dutch students did the same in Germany. Back in 2002, there were some 5,000 German students. The FD explains that German students study in the Netherlands for the quality of the education and because classes are given in English. The Dutch avoid German schools because classes are given in German. Studying abroad is also more prestigious and the Dutch universities attract a better class of student by offering degrees in English. But yeah, that’s a helluvalot of cash for knowledge that won’t even profit the Dutch economy afterwards.

And there I go off on a tangent and leave you with the question that haunted my university studies: is a student the product or client of a university? If you’re a product, then you should find the best possible study as you will be judged for the university you attended, not just your diploma. If you’re a client, as in you pay big to go to school, you have the right to tell the university what you want exactly and get it.

(Link: fok.nl)