Profile of Mexican students going to the Netherlands
30 Nov 2009
The typical Mexican student coming to the Netherlands to study in the 2009-2010 academic year is 26 years old, may be either male or female, comes from UNAM or TEC de Monterrey, is going to take a full Master’s degree in economics, business or engineering, and is financing his or her studies through a scholarship.
These are the findings of the survey conducted among students preparing their stay in the Netherlands in August 2009. Every year Nuffic Neso Mexico organizes a pre-departure meeting to help Mexican students prepare for their upcoming stay in the Netherlands and all students are asked to complete a survey regarding their choice for the Netherlands. In total about 60 students participated in the survey, which is one third of the total number of Mexicans going to the Netherlands to study.
Scholarships
Before starting a postgraduate programme, many Mexican students work to save for their studies. It is not usual to start a Master’s degree immediately after finishing a Bachelor’s. In general, however, students rely on a scholarship to finance their study abroad. The main sources of scholarships are the Dutch universities and the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT).
Study destinations
Almost three quarters of the students that participated in the survey chose the Netherlands as their primary study destination. One quarter chose the Netherlands as an alternative to, for example, the United Kingdom, Spain, France or Germany. Surprisingly, not a single student in the group represented by the survey chose the Netherlands as an alternative to the United States of America. Apparently, students wanting to study in the Netherlands are focused on Europe, not America.
Quality of services
Asking about the quality of the services provided by Nuffic Neso Mexico and the Dutch higher education institutions, the students generally replied very positively. 80% of the students that had been in contact with Nuffic Neso qualified its services as ‘excellent’, with another 17% qualifying the services as ‘good’ and only 3% as ‘average’. Most respondents knew Nuffic Neso either from the EuroPosgrados fair, which is co-organized by Nuffic Neso Mexico, from browsing the Internet or via the Dutch Embassy.
The services provided by Dutch higher education institutions were ‘excellent’ according to 68% of the students surveyed and 23% qualified the services as ‘good’. Generally the students were pleased with the help offered by the institutions in their preparation, although some students had some problems receiving quick answers to their questions.