Two days ago, five Dutch universities announced discontinuing their English-speaking psychology bachelor programs (1, 2, 3). Here I will briefly explain

1. how this decision came to be,
2. why this is such a serious threat to psychological science in the Netherlands,
3. and what we can do about it.

1. Closing down international psychology bachelor programs

To understand this decision, you need to understand two political developments in the Netherlands.

First, the House of Representatives passed severe cuts to higher education last week, forcing universities to save money. Leiden University, where I work, plans to cut around 30€ million in the next 5 years. This comes in addition to stopping the €300 million per year promised to Dutch universities starting in 2022 for particular types of grant initiatives.

Second, the right-wing Dutch government wants to pass a law about the “Balanced Internationalisation Act”. Part of this includes that all English-speaking programs must pass the ‘Test of Foreign Language Education’ (TAO) to prove that education in English is necessary. That is, if TAO becomes reality, universities need to proof for every single program that education in English is necessary. I don’t view this as good faith initiative to investigate the value of international programs, but rather as a result far-right extremist policies in the Netherlands¹. This would also explain why universities expect difficulties passing the TAO for many of their programs, and worry that they may have to sacrifice many international programs as a consequence.

In light of these developments, five universities in the Netherlands announced two days ago that they will throw all international psychology bachelor programs under the bus. This includes programs at Leiden University where I work, as well as the University of Amsterdam.

What does not motivate the universities’ decision to cut these programs? Finances, popularity, rankings, or quality of education.

• Finances: social science programs in the Netherlands get a specific (mid-tier) amount of money per student enrolled as well as per student who finishes. With relatively large classes and relatively inexpensive lab setups (compared to chemistry or medicine), these programs provide decent revenue streams.
• Popularity: psychology programs in the Netherlands are extremely popular and attract many Dutch as well as international students.
• Rankings: the international psychology bachelor program in Amsterdam is ranked #8 in the world.
• Study quality: there are exceptionally strong Dutch students, of course, but we are in a position where can compare student performance well, given very large classes taught in both Dutch and English. And although English-speaking students are at a disadvantage—English is usually not their native language, but their classes, assignments, exams, and bachelor theses are in English—they tend to perform at least as well as Dutch-speaking students, on average.

So why the cut?

Universities such as Leiden, Amsterdam, and Tilburg have specifically stated (1, 2, 3) that this cut is their own decision, not the government’s, and that they hope that the government will then not make the TAO mandatory. To put it more bluntly: because psychology programs attract many international students, and because that is unpopular with the current government, universities hope that throwing the international psychology bachelors under the bus may somehow halt the bus that might otherwise bring the TAO for all programs.

2. Consequences of closing down international psychology bachelor programs

There are numerous consequences, which culminate in a serious threat to the future of psychological science in the Netherlands.

Let’s start with students.

• International programs are a major draw for international students, and removing them significantly reduces the global talent pool. This is especially the case for exceptional students coming here on grants or exchange programs.
• Losing international students will narrow the scope of classroom discourse and reduce cultural competency. Just three weeks ago I taught a course on PTSD and refugees, and there was overwhelming feedback from students that the diverse ethnic backgrounds and experiences of students made the class so much more interesting and relevant.
• Some of the best Dutch students choose the international bachelor tracks because they want to study in English because the scientific language is English. These students may now opt to study outside of the Netherlands to more optimally prepare them for a career in academia. Conversely, students who study in Dutch may be at a disadvantage for the same reason (think about presentations at international conferences, writing applications to PhD programs abroad, etc).

Brain drain also applies to PhD students, postdocs, faculty, and staff.

• Speaking Dutch from day one will be necessary given that the vast majority of teaching will be in Dutch without international programs; keep in mind that many of us have contracts with a default of around 3 full days of teaching (0.6 fte) per week. Therefore, Dutch universities will no longer be able to compete for top international PhD students, researchers, teachers, or staff. This will also make it much harder to fill faculty positions in areas with skill shortages (e.g., AI in psychology).
• In addition to being unable to hire internationally competitive PhD students, postdocs, and faculty, many of our current colleagues may decide to leave in the next years.

There are also consequences for universities themselves:

• My understanding is that the large psychological bachelor programs are fiscally sensible; these are not the programs losing universities money. In addition, non-EU students pay much higher fees, which often subsidize university finances. In a situation where things are already difficult financially, this decision seems to worsen things.
• The hope is that this cut will save further costs because the government will then not go through with the TAO. But this appears a weird gamble, because while universities are throwing psychology programs under the bus trying to make proactive deals with the government, they are simultaneously suing the same government which has failed to deliver on previously made financial promises (€300 million a year extra funding for universities).

In sum, Dutch psychology has historically punched way above its weight in global science. Cutting some of the best English-speaking bachelor programs in the world will have devastating consequences.

3. What to do now

Universities have reacted somewhat differently. One of the best statements I have seen is by Merel Kindt, the department of psychology chair at the University of Amsterdam:

‘Look at what happened today at Harvard. There, they simply do not accept the Trump administration’s policy. We should do the same and we will do the same. Our fight is not over yet. People act as if passing the language test is a fait accompli, but it is not. English is and will be the language of science and the language of the future.’

I could not agree more, and this differs quite a bit from some other public statements by psychologists in the Netherlands I have seen that focus on accepting defeat and now trying to figure out ways to mitigate this.

But this is not the time to accept defeat: it is time to stand up for psychological science, because the consequences go way beyond a few bachelor programs. This is the time to stand up because we need to show international students and staff that defending international programs is part of our values in the Netherlands, as part of the European Union. It is also important to stand up because cutting international programs is straight-up irrational in a world that is increasingly connected, and in which psychology plays an increasingly important role.

“But Eiko: things are so much more complex. There are real concerns about the housing situation in the Netherlands, and about the flood of international students.” I hear you, and I think we all acknowledge that we need to work on bringing the overall level of international students to a workable level for universities, cities, and society. The Netherlands is not a huge country, and other smaller countries like Austria have also struggled with many international (and often predominantly German) students. Lets sit down and fix this.

But cutting a few international psychology programs is very obviously not a serious or sustainable effort at addressing this problem.

4. Update, a week later

After Leiden University proactively caved to government threats by shutting down our international psychology bachelor program, the below article was included in yesterday’s university newsletter, calling for defending academic freedom in … the US.

‘Don’t just give in; defend academic freedom’. I couldn’t agree more, Leiden University.

1. Geert Wilders, the far-right leader of the PVV party which holds the most seats, was convicted by a Dutch court in 2020 for racist insults.