Danish government to curb students’ enrollment in English-language courses

Most foreigners leave Denmark after graduating

Lucie Rychla

Mar 31, 2017

The education minister, Søren Pind, has decided to limit the capacity of English-language courses at Danish business academies and university colleges.

A new analysis has revealed that only about one in five students from these programs works in Denmark two years after graduation.

The analysis has also found that 57 percent of foreigners who attend the English-language courses at university colleges leave Denmark within two years of graduation, while the same is true of 31 percent of graduates from business academies. Some 27 percent continue in further education.

Don’t benefit Denmark
The figures clearly show that these higher education courses do not serve the primary purpose of educating young people for the Danish labour market, stated Pind.

He has thus decided that enrollments to selected English-language courses will this year be reduced by about 25 percent – 1,600 students fewer than in 2015.

“We can see the number of foreign students who come here to get an education paid for by the Danish taxpayer has increased significantly in recent years,” Pind said.

“But far too few contribute to Denmark afterwards, and that is why we need to cut back on the enrollments.”

Can’t find a job
Dansk Folkeparti’s spokesman for education, Jens Henrik Dahl, agrees this is the first step to ensuring Denmark only offers an education to foreigners who will later benefit the country.

“It is not the intention that our education system should educate young people from across Europe,” Dahl noted.

The analysis has also found that in 2012 only 21 percent of foreign graduates from business academies found a job in Denmark two years after completing their studies as opposed to 57 percent of Danish graduates.

The difference was much higher for graduates from university colleges, where only 17 percent of foreigners found employment in Denmark within two years of graduation as opposed to 76 percent of Danish students.