What Holland Alumni want
Holland alumni are still very much connected to the Netherlands and to their Dutch higher education institution. This is one of the main conclusions from recent Nuffic research into the needs and wishes of Holland alumni.
The report of this research, also known as ‘the Holland Alumni Barometer’, shows furthermore that awareness of the existence of the Holland Alumni network is 69%, though this varies per country.
Willingness to promote Holland
Nearly all of the respondents (94%) are satisfied with the learning experience and with living in Holland. Most indicated that the qualification obtained from the Dutch higher education institution is worth the financial investment (89%).
The willingness to recommend the Netherlands as a study destination is also high among Holland alumni. Overall 67% would actively encourage people to apply to study in Holland. Compared with UK alumni (34%), this is a good result.
Alumni were also asked what they are willing to give back to their institution: they indicated they would be available for writing articles about their time in Holland. When asked if they would make financial donations, 23% said they would like to.
Career opportunities
Alumni prefer communication by email or electronic newsletter. They would like to get news about Holland, but also about career opportunities in the Netherlands and career development programmes.
This is examined more closely in part two of the Holland Alumni Barometer, to be published in February. That report will show what the Holland alumni went on to do after their studies in Holland.
Part two of the barometer will especially focus on the influence of the study in Holland on the alumni’s careers and on the reasons for them to stay in the country or return here for work.
More information
The current report is a more in-depth analysis of data from a research carried out by iGraduate in June 2011, as part of the Holland Alumni project. More than 7,100 alumni participated in that survey. iGraduate does the same research in various countries with the same questions, making it possible to compare data.
The result of the detailed analysis, carried out by Nuffic, was presented at a training session on alumni relations management in November. It is published on the Holland Alumni network website.