Income of universities in the Netherlands by source of funds
In short
- The total income of the universities has developed positively since 2004, from 4.2 to 8.6 billion euros in 2021.
- The government remains the largest source of income for the universities.
- The Vrije Universiteit (VU) has the largest share of government funding of all universities, with 68% of the total income.
Income of universities in the Netherlands by source of funds
| Other income | Tuition fees | Contract activities | Direct government income | |
| 2004 | 428,6 | 296,1 | 926,2 | 2586,9 |
| 2005 | 451,2 | 313,5 | 969,1 | 2677,4 |
| 2006 | 478 | 330,6 | 1013,3 | 2743,3 |
| 2007 | 522 | 344,2 | 1086,4 | 2816,6 |
| 2008 | 620,1 | 356,8 | 1299 | 3197,6 |
| 2009 | 540,2 | 421,3 | 1436,1 | 3340,1 |
| 2010 | 553,7 | 465,8 | 1526,5 | 3354,5 |
| 2011 | 568,3 | 489,8 | 1599,8 | 3441,8 |
| 2012 | 544,8 | 520,8 | 1649,5 | 3465,1 |
| 2013 | 523 | 540,6 | 1656,9 | 3584,8 |
| 2014 | 499 | 535,9 | 1712,2 | 3626 |
| 2015 | 524,7 | 579,5 | 1838 | 3696,7 |
| 2016 | 566,9 | 613,6 | 1820,1 | 3802,4 |
| 2017 | 533,5 | 656,7 | 1865 | 3900,9 |
| 2018 | 550,1 | 691,2 | 1924,8 | 4120,9 |
| 2019 | 578,9 | 720,5 | 2026,3 | 4374,5 |
| 2020 | 527,5 | 783,1 | 1944,9 | 4631,5 |
| 2021 | 557,1 | 739,0 | 2110,7 | 5194,8 |
Analysis
The total income of the universities has developed positively since 2004, from 4.2 to 8.6 billion euros in 2021. The government remains the largest source of income for the universities. Its share has decreased from 61% to 57% between 2004 and 2015. Then it rose again to 60% in 2021. The decrease between 2004 and 2015 was mainly due to the fact that income from 'Work for third parties' rose faster than the income from government. The share 'Work for third parties' rose between 2004 and 2015 from 22% to 28%. Thereafter, this percentage decreased to 25% in 2021. More information on this source of income can be found in our datapublication on the contract research activities of universities, linked in the sidebar. The share of Tuition fees grew slightly between 2004 and 2021 from 7% to 9%. The share of 'Other income' falls from 10% to 6%.
Income of universities in the Netherlands, by university and source of funds
| Other income | Tuition fees | Contract activities | Direct government income | |
| VU | 8,9 | 9,5 | 13,9 | 67,6 |
| UT | 5,2 | 7,7 | 22,0 | 65,1 |
| UvT | 3,8 | 13,4 | 18,3 | 64,5 |
| TU/e | 4,9 | 6,5 | 25,3 | 63,4 |
| WUR | 4,2 | 8,3 | 24,4 | 63,1 |
| RUG | 7,2 | 9,3 | 20,3 | 63,1 |
| TUD | 3,6 | 9,0 | 25,0 | 62,4 |
| UM | 7,6 | 8,4 | 22,8 | 61,3 |
| UvA | 2,8 | 10,1 | 27,3 | 59,8 |
| UU | 5,3 | 6,6 | 29,1 | 58,9 |
| LEI | 7,6 | 9,1 | 25,5 | 57,8 |
| RU | 6,2 | 5,9 | 32,0 | 55,9 |
| EUR | 15,1 | 8,4 | 27,4 | 49,1 |
| Totaal | 6,5 | 8,5 | 24,8 | 60,2 |
Analysis
The Vrije Universiteit (VU) has the largest share of government funding of all universities, with 68% of the total income. At Erasmus University (EUR), less than half (49%) of income consists of government grants and the shares of 'Work for third parties' (27%) and 'Other income' (15%) are relatively large. The Vrije Universiteit (VU) has the lowest share of 'Work for third parties' (14%). It should be noted here that VUmc's third-party assignments are not included in the university's annual accounts (where this is the case for most others). More information on this source of income can be found in our datapublication on the contract research activities of universities, linked in the sidebar. At 13%, the share of tuition fees, course, teaching and examination fees is relatively large at Tilburg University (UvT).
For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.