Headlines about the Netherlands turning away international students have been running for a couple of years, and it is genuinely hard to tell from them what has actually taken effect. For anyone choosing a programme now, the line between a bill still in parliament and changes universities have already made themselves is the part that matters.
Some, yes, but it's happening through university choices and a sector agreement more than through a law that's actually in force yet. The Wet internationalisering in balans (Internationalisation in Balance Act) — which would let institutions cap non-EEA intake and require most bachelor's teaching to stay predominantly Dutch — has been working its way through parliament for a couple of years, gathering amendments and delays along the way; the most recent public record available shows it still under consideration rather than finally passed, so check the bill's Eerste Kamer (Senate) page directly for whether that's changed by the time you're reading this. What's already real regardless of the law's fate: back in 2024 the Dutch universities' association (UNL) agreed among its members to stop launching new English-only bachelor's programmes, convert some existing ones to Dutch or add a Dutch-taught track, and pull back on international recruitment at fairs outside shortage sectors. Individual universities have been implementing pieces of that voluntarily ever since. For an applicant, the practical upshot is the same either way: don't assume a programme's current English-taught bachelor's stays English-taught, or open to the same non-EEA numbers, a year or two from now. Check the specific programme page each admissions cycle, and keep a Dutch-medium backup in mind if the subject matters more than the teaching language.