English-language Bachelor's programme in Economics to be phased out

The English-language track of the Bachelor's programme in Economics & Business Economics at Utrecht University will be discontinued, at the earliest in 2029. The Executive Board made the announcement this morning in a meeting with staff from the Economics department. 

The Executive Board's announcement follows sector-wide self-governance agreements to reduce the number of international students made in April 2025. These agreements served as an alternative to legislation that could have made English-language education at Dutch universities virtually impossible.

Colleagues from the Economics department were informed of the news during a meeting this morning. The Executive Board explicitly stated that this announcement does not align with the way in which the national agreements were communicated to the department in April this year. At that time, the Executive Board communicated to, among others, the REBO faculty board and the management of the Economics department, the Utrecht School of Economics, that there had been an agreement within the UNL framework to start a Dutch-language track in Economics and Business Economics in 2027-2028 alongside the English-language programme. 

The Executive Board concludes that an overly optimistic assessment was made in the spring about the possible easing of measures in the event of a sharp decline in international student numbers in the Netherlands. The self-regulation agreements were reconfirmed at a meeting of the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) last Friday. It is now clear that the English-language track cannot be sustained. 

The Executive Board takes responsibility for the situation. Acting chair of the Executive Board Margot van der Starre said 'We deeply regret that the staff of the Economics & Business Economics programme were misinformed in April. At that time, there was no mention of discontinuing the English-language track in economics. We realise that this message has come as a shock to the Utrecht University School of Economics (USE) community. As the Executive Board, we did not handle this process well and we apologise for that.”

“We shared the news with our U.S.E. colleagues first thing this morning and listened to their reactions and concerns. We understand that colleagues are angry or disappointed, and that there are concerns about whether international students and staff are still welcome at Utrecht University. Let me be clear: they are. We recognise the importance of a diversity of perspectives in our lecture halls. We will continue to engage in dialogue with colleagues and students who are affected by this, and of course with the representative advisory bodies.”

Major impact on the U.S.E. department

"We are now faced with a situation that is contrary to the agreements we made with the Executive Board in April and which the Executive Board communicated, including during the meeting with U.S.E. staff in April this year. That is deeply disappointing," said Elaine Mak, Dean of the REBO Faculty. "The faculty and department boards and staff understand the importance of self-regulation. A plan has been drawn up to help us contribute to a better balance in the influx of international students, and in recent months we have started preparations for the Dutch-language track with positive energy. In addition, the intake of international students in the bachelor's programme has already declined without any measures being taken. The scenario, which was not shared with us earlier, in which the bachelor's programme in Economics & Business Economics in English would cease to exist altogether, strikes at the foundations of Utrecht's successful economics profile, of which the international classroom is an integral part. The loss of the English-language programme would be highly undesirable."

"We are therefore very disappointed in the Executive Board's misjudgement and very angry that we were misinformed in April." Mak said that further internal discussions will follow shortly. "We are assessing the options available to us within the faculty and departmental boards to mitigate the consequences of the current scenario, and we are holding further discussions with the Executive Board about the precise details of the self-governance agreements. We will also carefully involve the employee participation councils. For now, my concern, and that of the U.S.E. board, is first and foremost with the staff and students who are affected by this development."

"The board of the REBO Faculty and the Executive Board are in close contact regarding the situation that has arisen," said Van der Starre. "We are working together to implement the measure with care, taking into account the concerns of students and staff. We all realise the considerable impact this will have on the students and staff of the Economics department."