- Education
- 13/05/2026
Program directors dispute criticism of intake restrictions
The three 'numerus fixus' programs at TU/e recently found themselves in the spotlight. The trigger was a column written for Cursor by professor Boudewijn van Dongen about regional students who were not immediately admitted during the selection process. The program directors, who watched the controversy unfold with dismay, explain how they view the situation and why intake restrictions are necessary.
Parliamentary questions and coverage in the national media: Boudewijn van Dongen’s column about students who were not immediately admitted to numerus fixus programs sparked a major response. ‘Unfortunately: all rejected’, he wrote about classmates of his son who had been placed on the waiting list during the selection procedure for bachelor’s programs with intake restrictions at TU/e, while many international students had been admitted directly.
The professor’s remarks caused frustration among the program directors because, according to them, they created a misleading impression about the chances of candidates who do not immediately receive an offer. Many of them are in fact very likely to receive one at a later stage, explains Computer Science program director Bas Luttik.
Ranking numbers
Luttik points to last year’s figures as an example. “Our intake restriction is set at 375 students. Candidates who complete the entire selection process are assigned a ranking number. The 375 students with the lowest numbers are offered a place first, but the highest number that ultimately received an offer in 2025 was around 800. We had a total of 1,249 candidates.”
At Mechanical Engineering, the waiting list also moves down significantly, says program director Hans Kuerten. Last year, candidate number 995 out of approximately 1,500 participants still received an offer, while the cap is set at 500 students. “Candidates who are actually rejected generally performed quite poorly in the selection,” he says.
At the gate
Kuerten believes there is a strong chance those students would not have made it to the second year of the program anyway. “For as long as I’ve worked here – and that’s quite a long time – the number of Dutch students starting the second year has remained fairly constant. That hasn’t changed with the introduction of intake restrictions.” According to him, the selection process ensures students drop out at the gate rather than during the first year.
So if students are initially placed on the waiting list, that does not mean they have actually been rejected. Many places become available again because candidates also apply to other universities. Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences program director Jacob Voorthuis, for example, sees Dutch students still choosing Delft instead – and vice versa. Partly because of this, nearly everyone who completes the selection process and definitively chooses TU/e is ultimately able to secure a place in the program.
Still admitted
Two of the three classmates of Boudewijn van Dongen’s son mentioned in his column have since received offers from Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences and Mechanical Engineering after all. The third candidate decided not to wait for an offer and switched from Mechanical Engineering to Electrical Engineering – also at TU/e.
At Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences, the intake restriction is mainly intended as a filter to attract the right students rather than to limit enrollment. The selection process consists primarily of a motivation assessment, in which students spend a day on campus or participate online. Background, nationality, or place of residence play no role. “You’re not allowed to discriminate, and I believe that is something to value,” says Voorthuis.
Low dropout rate
By selecting students based on motivation, the dropout rate at Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences fell from between 25 and 30 percent to around 9 percent, according to Voorthuis. At Mechanical Engineering, around 80 percent of students progress to the second year. In Computer Science, as many as 87 percent of first-year students received a positive binding study recommendation. “That’s exceptionally high,” says Luttik.
For him, it reinforces the idea that intake restrictions have a positive effect, even if some Dutch candidates are not selected. “What’s the point of admitting Dutch students who then drop out after the first year?” he asks.
Safeguarding quality
In Computer Science – just like in Mechanical Engineering – intake restrictions are indeed intended to limit enrollment. “That’s necessary to safeguard quality. We can only do that with the number of students we currently admit,” says Luttik. “Only by safeguarding the quality of its programs can TU/e produce graduates who are valuable to sectors facing labor shortages.”
In addition, international students are needed to help address major shortages, according to the program directors. Particularly in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering, the number of Dutch candidates is nowhere near the number of available places.
No better chances
In all three programs, international candidates make up a larger group than Dutch candidates. And sometimes they also perform better than Dutch students during the selection process.
According to the program directors, this is not because they are more accustomed to entrance exams, as Van Dongen suggested in his column. Luttik explains: “Our candidates take a mathematics test at pre-university education (vwo) level. For the other two components, they receive study materials and then take a test on them. International students cannot prepare for that any better than Dutch candidates can.”
According to Kuerten, international students also have no advantage in Mechanical Engineering. There, the selection consists of a mathematics and physics test at pre-university education (vwo) level, as well as a test in which candidates answer questions about a lecture they are shown.
Dutch students do, however, receive a slight advantage because both programs organize on-campus activities that help prospective students prepare for the selection. These are easier for Dutch students to attend.
Low mathematics level
So why do international students still perform better? According to Luttik, it is because mathematics education is stronger in other countries. “We can see in the selection process that the level of secondary education in the Netherlands is declining compared to the rest of Europe.” In his view, that is what the discussion should really focus on. Kuerten agrees. “That’s genuinely concerning.”
He also sees interest in engineering declining among young people. “We are trying to do something about that, but the effects will only become noticeable in the long term.”
Priority not necessary
The recent reporting on intake restrictions and the parliamentary questions submitted by Diederik Boomsma, however, have focused not on those underlying causes but on whether Dutch students should receive priority in these programs. According to the program directors, that is not necessary. In their view, hardly any qualified Dutch candidates are currently being definitively rejected.
In addition, both Luttik and Kuerten observe that international students appear to be just as willing as Dutch students to stay and work in the region after completing their master’s degree.
For now, the programs therefore see little reason to adjust their admissions policies, although Luttik is considering ways to give students more certainty. “Perhaps we should take the risk of ending up with slightly too many students and immediately make offers to a larger group. That way, candidates who genuinely want to study here at least get clarity sooner.”
This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.
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