COVID-19 in Dutch higher education

In this contribution to the Special Issue of Studies in Higher Education, I describe developments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch higher education along three lines. First, the context is outlined in chronological order. It concerns the evolution of the pandemic in the Netherlands, complemented by the general situation at my own university–the University of Twente (UT). The UT has almost 12,000 students, about 30% of whom come from abroad. ¹ Many of the foreign students come from neighbouring country Germany (12% of the total number of students). The university is located in the east of the Netherlands, close to the border with Germany, and has a beautiful spacious campus. The nickname of the university is the Entrepreneurial University, which underlines its character. The second part of my contribution gives an overview of a number of measures and issues that were taken during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Dutch higher education sector. The third part contains a number of personal perceptions and gives an impression of my state of mind in recent months. ².