Recent reforms in the higher educational system of The Netherlands

Global trends, such as the ageing of the population and technological advancement, raise the importance of higher education. However, to finance higher education with the means of taxpayers is contested by other matters such as the need for health care, social care and infrastructure. This latter has increasingly caused governments to make students pay for their higher education, rather than the taxpayers. This paper analyses a reform in The Netherlands in regard to such greater ‘cost sharing’ in 2015. It is concluded that the reform is consistent the economic trends and literature on the subject. However, the expected negative effect on the enrollment in higher education can be concerning. Moreover, it is yet unclear what the impact will be on the accessibility of higher education for (poorer) students.