‘Great’, so calls rector Frank Baaijens of TU/e the high number of students studying this academic year in Eindhoven. At the same time, the workload will become higher and higher and the university budget will remain the same.
At the Eindhoven University of Technology, more than 11,000 students are registered for the academic year 2017/2018. Never before has been this number so high. A total of about 2250 bachelor students start their first year of study. That’s 200 more than last year. “I also went to check the universities at Enschede and in Delft,” says one of the new mechanical engineering students. “I had the best feeling with the university in Eindhoven.”
“We are trying to offer the students an educational program that fits well with the field of work,” rector Frank Baaijens says. He opened the academic year on behalf of TU/e on Monday. Among others, D66 (liberal-democratic party) leader Alexander Pechtold was present. “It’s great to see all those students at the Metaforum. I get a warm feeling,” smiles the rector.
A negative side of the record number of students is the student intake restriction that the TU/e has started for the next academic year. There will be a lottery introduced for four educational programs in order to make it more difficult for students to start a technical study at the university. “We are at our maximum,” says the rector. “On the one hand, it’s painful. On the other hand, we see each academic year students dropping out in their first year of study. We think we can select well so that the outflow in the first year also decreases.”
The number of foreign newcomers at TU/e also increased. Last year, 184 started a technical educational program in Eindhoven. Now there are about 300. That’s positive news, rector Baaijens finds. This way the field of work can be better imitated during the study.
Source: Studio040
