Early October was the deadline set for announcing those programs for which TU/e will be introducing a student limit in the academic year 2019-2020. As of  this date, mention of which programs are subject to the cap needs to be made in the university's communications. This is because students enrolling on a capped program need to apply early: before January 16, 2019.

At the opening of the Academic Year in early September, Executive Board President Jan Mengelers named four extra programs to which a ceiling on student numbers may be applied, in addition to the four that already have a ceiling this academic year. This would mean that in the coming academic year almost 80 percent of all first-years would have to undergo decentralized testing. Strong protest was voiced by commerce and industry against this proposed decision because engineers are in very high demand.

At Mathematics and Innovation Sciences it is now evident, however, that prospective students for the coming academic year will be spared a decentralized test. For Johan Lukkien, Dean of Mathematics and Computer Science, this was almost a foregone conclusion some weeks ago. At the time he told Cursor that limitations arise when a student is keen to enroll on a double Bachelor's and one of the programs has a ceiling on student numbers – “and it is even more complicated when both programs (Computer Science & Engineering already has one this year, ed.) have a ceiling”. Lukkien was also worried that the better students, who often choose this kind of double enrollment, would be put off.

CROHO position

At Innovation Sciences there was the problem that the two majors being offered, Psychology & Technology and Sustainable Innovation, could not get a ceiling on student numbers independently of each other because they share a single CROHO position. The major Psychology & Technology, on which some 100 first-years embarked this year, is at its maximum in terms of intake, said Program Director Eric van der Geer-Rutten-Rijswijk. For the major Sustainable Innovation, which currently has some 60 first-years, however, he did not want to see a drop in intake and that risk would arise, he believed, were a student limit to be introduced.

It has now been decided not to introduce a ceiling on student numbers for the coming academic year for Innovation Sciences. Van der Geer-Rutten-Rijswijk reveals that in the meantime the process has started to get both these majors their own CROHO position. This would create the possibility of introducing a ceiling on student numbers for the academic year 2020-2021 for the major Psychology & Technology.