Dijsselbloem’s proposal for a ‘65 percent stay rate guarantee’ would mean that the university can keep attracting international students, as long as 65 percent of them stay in the Netherlands after graduating. This is feasible for TU/e, the Mayor believes. According to him, sixty percent of international graduates immediately enter employment in this region. “That’s almost twice as many as the national average. The need for engineers is huge. I think it’s possible.” The Major does have a contingency: “The university can only grow if it receives financial support.”

Dijsselbloem also calls for public investments in the Brainport region and business in the province of Brabant in order to facilitate the growth of the tech industry. “At the moment, the national debt is much lower than the norm of sixty percent of the GDP, so there’s room.” He indicates that he would need five to eight billion euros to construct enough homes and infrastructure and keep current facilities up to scratch.

How many stay?

Robert-Jan Smits, President of the TU/e Executive Board, recently indicated in an interview with Cursor that the university’s own research shows that 55 percent of international students end up staying. This percentage was measured fifteen months after graduation. Last year, over fifty percent of the university’s intake consisted of international students.

Internationalization organization Nuffic also performed research into international students who stay, but spanning a longer period: five years after graduation. The report indicated that the percentage of international students who end up staying is lower, namely 24 percent.

Not welcome

It remains to be seen how feasible the ‘65 percent stay rate guarantee’ is. Since the debate on limiting the intake of foreign students took place, this group has felt less and less welcome in the Netherlands. A survey by six university news papers among 1,300 international students revealed that 55 percent of them feel welcome. About thirty percent are considering leaving the Netherlands because of the current debate on internationalization. Following this survey, Cursor talked to international students to gauge the mood at the university.

Click below to watch Dijsselbloem’s call on Buitenhof (the ‘65 percent stay guarantee’ starts at 10:08):