‘The number of applications is growing fast every year and so is the time spent on each applicant,’ said Victor van der Chijs at the meeting. ‘Yet, there is a discrepancy between the amount of the applications and the actual registration. Which is why we are suggesting to introduce a pilot of an application fee. It would only be a pilot involving only the EEMCS faculty. Once the students enrol, their fee would be reimbursed.’
The board clarified that the idea behind the fee is to decrease the amount of applications of students who have less chance to be granted admission and of students who don’t actually intend to enrol at the UT. This would allow admission officers to process applications quicker.
‘Nearly all other Dutch universities have already included such a fee,’ continued Van der Chijs. ‘What we have learnt from the other universities is that the number of people who actually enrol didn’t decrease, but the workload going into it has significantly decreased. We hope this pilot has the same results. If we cannot identify a certain effect, then this pilot should be ended.’
The board suggested to start the pilot as of October 2019. It is not yet clear if the University Council will approve this. The decision will be taken next week after the EEMCS Faculty Council is formerly consulted on the matter.
