Organisation - May 24, 2012

Big growth in student numbers forecast

University heading for 12 percent growth.
VHL numbers stable.

Based on the number of provisional registrations, Wageningen University can expect to grow considerably next year. Figures from Studielink show that by 21 May, 917 high school students had signed up for a Wageningen BSc programme. Almost 100 more than this time last year. A growth percentage of 12 percent would suggest that the university is back on track. From 2008 the student population grew by an average of 11 percent per year, but the growth tailed off last year to around 4 percent.
Van Hall Larenstein currently has 752 registrations for next year. This is in line with last year's figures. The Wageningen-based programmes are particularly popular. This time last year, 113 school students had signed up for these programmes. Now the counter is at 134. Leeuwarden and Velp seem to be heading for a slight decline in numbers. In Leeuwarden Animal Management remains the most popular programme.
Nutrition and Health
At Wageningen University, the most popular programmes are Health and Society, and Business and Consumer Studies. Registrations for both these programmes have gone up by more than 60 percent. Nutrition and Health is the biggest draw: 106 students have already registered for this degree programme.
Compared with other Dutch universities, Wageningen is only outdone by Maastricht and Leiden, with growth rates of 18 and 15 percent respectively.