University chairs call for more international students
In advance of voters going to the polls in the general election on Tuesday, the board chairs of Denmark’s eight universities issued a joint demand for the government to recognise the ‘significant contribution’ that international students make to the Danish economy and allow more of them to come to Denmark to study.
“International students give much more to our country than they take. They are a profitable investment for Denmark at every level. We cannot afford to have fewer. On the contrary. We must invest in more,” the eight board chairs wrote on the Universities Denmark website on 18 March.
The column is signed by Margrethe Vestager, chair of the board, DTU-Denmark Technological University; Carsten Gomard, Chair, ITU-IT University of Copenhagen – Merete Eldrup, chairperson, Copenhagen University – Dea Forchhammer, acting chairperson, Roskilde University RUC – Lilian Mogensen, acting chairperson, CBS-Copenhagen Business School – Birgitte Nauntofte, Chair of the Board, Aarhus Universitet – Søren Vilby, chairperson of the board, University of Southern Denmark-SDU, and André Rogaczewski, chairperson, Aalborg Universitet.
“How do you measure the value of an international environment in Danish business? The value of cultural exchange, diplomatic understanding, cross-border knowledge sharing, and innovation partnerships.
“It is difficult to put an exact figure on it. But right now, it must be clear to everyone that for a small country like Denmark, the value is inestimable – and the skills are in high demand.
“Our companies depend on access to international talent. They strengthen competitiveness and boost global impact across the European continent.”
They said in Europe all nations are weak on their own.
“But if we can create cohesion through strong knowledge partnerships, innovation, and mobility—cohesion that can shift the balance of international competition—the continent can position itself and secure democratic influence in a new world order.”
They argued that universities foster integration in the Danish labour market.
Internationalisation benefits
“Unfortunately”, they said, “the significant socioeconomic benefits Denmark derives from international students are often overlooked. It is therefore crucial that the latest data be brought to light.”
A new analysis from the think tank DEA confirms that international students in Denmark generally complete their masters degrees “at least as often as Danish students”. Furthermore, most are on par with Danish students both academically and in terms of salary.
The analysis is based on register data from Statistics Denmark and includes almost 100,000 international students who have been enrolled in full-time masters programmes from 2000 to 2023.
According to figures from Danish Universities, 44.1% of international graduates are still in the country and employed two years after completing their masters degree.
At DTU, the university that educates the most international graduates, the socio-economic impact of this has been studied.
A new analysis from HBS Economics shows that an international masters graduate from DTU who stays in Denmark and works throughout their 45-year career contributes 38 million DKK to Denmark’s GDP through their wages.
At the same time, they represent a significant gain for public finances: After deducting expenses for, for example, healthcare, student grants, and education, their taxes amount to 18 million DKK over the period.
Economic Potential
“The economic potential of strengthening the retention of international students in Denmark is large. A strengthened retention rate of 10% would mean an additional contribution to GDP of DKK 3.6 billion for one cohort over a working life.
“By increasing the intake so that 100 more international students graduate from DTU per year, the contributions would increase by DKK 1.4 billion, HBS Economics found.
“Based on the statistics and the geopolitical situation, it cannot be emphasised enough how important international students are to Denmark and the Danish business community,” the eight university board chairs said.
In addition to being good for business, they serve as ambassadors for Denmark, helping to boost the private and public sectors and raise Denmark’s profile in the international community. In industry, they help address a massive shortage of highly educated workers.
In Denmark, we particularly lack people who can tackle high-priority policy challenges in areas such as defence and security, healthcare, and the green transition.
Broad political backing has been given, through the masters degree reform, to establish 2,500 additional English-language masters programmes by 2029.
Meanwhile on 23 March, the day before the general election, Katrine Robsøe, educational spokesperson of the Radical Left, the Social-Liberal party who is chairman of the education and research committee in the parliament and former consultant for education in the Confederation of Danish Industry, in Jyllandsposten wrote: “More training places must be created, and this must happen in particular in areas where the business community is crying out for labour.”
This included engineers and IT graduates.
She said it was “crazy” that “thousands of training places have been closed” under the outgoing government, which she said is harmful to society and companies.
She argued that the regulations should be changed to make it easier for companies in Denmark to attract foreign labour.
Contrary to the other Nordic countries, higher education and research policies have been a hot issue in the election debates in Denmark.
Business, universities, and trade unions have all voiced concern about research freedom and Denmark's ability to attract talent in the future.
Polling suggests the election on 24 March is unlikely to produce a clean or ideologically cohesive majority, leaving coalition-building dependent on broad alliances or issue-based support from smaller and potentially opposition parties.