The premasters are doing well, the agency concludes. DThe transfer students are satisfied with the quality of education and perform as well in their subsequent master programmes as other students. However, approximately a third of transfer students do not receive any student financing or a public transport pass because they are registered as a ‘contact student’.
This often causes troubles in terms of student housing, student organisations LSVb and ISO say. ‘People who come here through a transfer are students just like anyone else. At the very least they should get equal and full rights’, ISO president Jan Sinnige says.
Funding
The premasters are currently being funded by the universities. This costs them 41 million euros annually. ResearchNed thinks that there could be an increase in transfer students if the government were to take over these costs, leaving the universities more funds for regular education. But whether that would lead to more master students and diplomas is not clear.
The universities want the government to make funds available for the programmes. ‘Considering the societal importance of educational through-flow, targeted funding of transfer programmes just make sense’, says Karl Dittrich of university organisations VSNU.