Professor Rosemary Salomone’s commentary, “Student internationalisation plan may be a model for others,” was published in the May 4 edition of University World News. The commentary focuses on the Netherlands and the Minister of Education, Culture and Science’s preliminary blueprint addressing the rise in international students and the consequent pressures on student housing, course accessibility, faculty workloads and educational quality.

Professor Salomone argues that language is a key source of the problem and a key component of the solution. She maintains that the plan to limit English-taught courses and impose Dutch mandates, targeted toward specific universities and programs, promises to comply with long-debated provisions in the Higher Education and Research Act preserving the Dutch language, and with EU law protecting the rights of international students within the European Economic Area. It further recognizes the country’s interest in linguistically preparing both its own students to find jobs in the global economy, and international students to fill critical labor gaps in the national economy. Depending on the details, the plan can potentially serve as a nuanced model for other countries weighing the benefits and burdens of internationalization in higher education.