Universities of the Netherlands reported on 10 November that about 17,600 international students began bachelor’s study at Dutch research universities in 2026–27, up 6%. Applicants should check capacity in their particular English-taught programme.
About 40,800 Dutch students started bachelor’s programmes. Combined first-year intake grew 3.5%. The association counts students without previous enrolment in a Dutch university bachelor’s or master’s programme. Overall university enrolment also includes returning students.
The universities had agreed on a collective ceiling of 16,766 new international bachelor’s students. It is a sector-wide agreement. It does not specify a Taiwanese quota. The reported intake is rounded, so a calculated overrun is approximate.
About 600 more international students started technical programmes, accounting for roughly two thirds of the overrun. The trend supplies context for families exploring engineering and technology, but gives no course-specific seat count or offer rate.
Several universities have lowered caps for selected English-taught psychology, economics, business and political science programmes. Check each degree’s language, cap, selection process and timeline individually.
Maastricht University separately reported about 9,000 new students, down 0.4%, and slightly over 22,000 enrolled students, down 1.8%. The campus figures cover a different population from national international bachelor’s entrants.
Maastricht highlights its border location and the presence of German and Belgian students. Its international share includes students from nearby regions. Course language, class organisation and housing information give Taiwanese applicants more specific context.
Non-EEA students generally pay institutional tuition. Check individual fee status and the current programme rate, then budget for housing, insurance and transport separately from the selection requirements.
Both releases describe provisional counts. Save the date and requirements for each target programme, then recheck them when applications open. That makes changes in the rules distinguishable from comparisons across admissions cycles.
