Romy Appleman, student council member for Pulse, explains: ‘The government counts the number of registered students for its budget. Since students actually cost much more than the amount of tuition fees they pay, the government gives universities a subsidy. From the coming academic year, head counting is also done to see which students would be given the Halbe fine.’ If the university does not tighten up its flexible regulations, students who take a longer time to graduate would wait till after 1 October and then sign up en masse in order to escape the fine. ‘Firstly, that would be fraud; secondly, the university would lose out on a big chunk of money,’ adds Appelman. The student council accepts the fact that the university has to adjust its regulation, but is sorry to see flexibility being removed in this way. Appelman: ‘Students who have planned to sign out for two or three months – perhaps they have even booked a ticket for a long trip – would have to change their plans now.’
New registration rules in coming academic year
From September, students in Wageningen will not be able to sign up for a programme at the university whenever they like. Government regulations will stipulate that the university has to limit admissions to two times a year: in September and February.