Mass Universities and the Idea of an Elite Education in the Netherlands, 1945-2015

After the Second World War, the awareness was very strong that the Netherlands needed to industrialize in order to prosper. Therefore, the government started investing in higher education and in the sciences on a massive scale. New (technical) universities were founded, and the numbers of faculties, chairs and staff rose. Since the 1970s, higher education for many has become the word. The number of university students has risen from 11.250 in 1940 to 103.000 in 1970 and 250.000 now. But universities do not specialize. They all offer almost the same, however hard their boards sometimes try to raise their institution above the others or at least give the public the impression that they are better. Since Dutch universities are not allowed to select students, and because there are many restrictions to raise money from other sources than the government, it is almost impossible for universities to create a distinct profile for themselves. The only way out was the creation of new institutions. This was done by establishing liberal arts colleges with a strict admittance policy.