As part of the bachelor programmes European Studies and Global Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), students can gain course credits by taking a course in a foreign language of their choice. Internationals might choose Dutch, but other options like Portuguese, Arabic or German are also available. In September, the Language Centre, which provides those courses, raised the rate it charges to the programme to €475 per student. That is an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to the €330 it charged last year. And compared to the rates in 2022 – €265 for Dutch and €295 for other languages – that has almost doubled.
Ilja Schreinemakers, director of the Language Centre, said they had no choice. “The costs have risen significantly over the last few years due in part to inflation and a lack of teachers. We were able to keep the rates artificially low for a long time, but that is now really no longer viable. Besides, compared to other universities, our courses are still on the cheaper side.”
Affordable
Nonetheless, there are doubts at the European Studies bachelor programme whether the current rates are still affordable. “In light of the looming budget cuts [to higher education by the cabinet], the sharp increase in the Language Centre’s tariffs must be carefully evaluated” is the conclusion reached in the financial section of the Education and Examination Regulations (EER) that was recently sent to the Faculty Council. Does that mean language courses might disappear from the curriculum next year? Programme Director Luana Russo was unwilling to rush to a decision. The situation is different for Global Studies, said Programme Director Michaella Vanore – that Bachelor’s degree has a so-called BKKI label, which means that students pay higher tuition fees. “That provides the obligation and opportunity to provide additional elements such as language lessons.”
For the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), the cost of language lessons is one of the reasons to stop offering the English-language track of the Medicine programme, where students must take the Language Centre’s Dutch course during their entire degree. The similar increase in rates was also an issue there, but was not necessarily the final nail in the coffin, said Programme Coordinator Sylvia Heeneman. “The costs were already substantial.”
Political plans
The timing of the increase is sensitive, now language lessons are in the spotlight. While the cabinet currently has no concrete plans to force international students to learn Dutch, some coalition parties have alluded to it in the past. In the EER for European Studies, it says that the current language course “could potentially serve as a foundation, if Dutch-language instruction for all students is implemented in the future”.
According to director of the Language Centre Schreinemakers, UM must urgently think about language learning in the curricula of programmes and how much money it wishes to set aside for it. Both because of political plans and her own strategic plan. “That says we want to have an impact on the area and want to invest in global engagement. Doesn’t that mean we should be incorporating neighbouring languages such as French and German, and world languages such as Spanish and Chinese, in more curricula not less? That means the university must find a different way of covering the costs.”