South Korea: Rolling Out the Welcome Mat

South Korea has been on a genuine winning streak with international students. The country crossed into what officials are calling the "300,000 international student era," reaching 314,397 international students by February 2026, hitting its original target nearly two years ahead of schedule.

Rather than slowing down, South Korea's Ministry of Justice has spent 2026 actively making its student visa system easier and more attractive.

In February, the ministry designated 16 vocational university programmes across the country as workforce focused technical courses. Students in these specific programmes now get eased D-2 student visa requirements, including waived financial proof in some cases, expanded part time working hours, and a real pathway to long term residency. Graduates can apply for a new work visa called E-7-M, nicknamed the K-CORE visa, provided they secure a related job paying at least 26 million won a year, roughly 17,700 US dollars, and meet a Korean language requirement. Work that job for five years, or just three years in regions facing population decline, and graduates become eligible to apply for South Korea's F-2 long term resident visa.

Then in May, the ministry adopted eight further visa related proposals. These eased requirements for the D-4 trainee visa, including for a well known culinary training programme. They expanded post study work and job seeking pathways, and they extended the same benefits already available to Korean university graduates to students from five Education Ministry certified overseas universities. A brand new "gap year" visa now lets high school graduates from OECD countries spend time in Korea exploring before committing to a full degree. Part time work rules were loosened too, with some students now able to work up to 35 hours a week during term time.

South Korea has also set up a joint public and private group to fully redesign its international student visa framework going forward, with final recommendations expected in August 2026 and broader policy discussions scheduled for November. In plain terms, this is not a finished picture. More changes are coming.

One honest caveat worth knowing: this openness is not universal across every visa category. South Korea has simultaneously cut its quota for low skilled foreign labour visas sharply, from 165,000 in 2024 down to just 80,000 for 2026. The message is consistent and deliberate: Korea wants more skilled students, graduates and specialists, and fewer low skilled temporary workers. It is not opening every door at once, it is being very selective about which doors it opens wider.

[INTERNAL LINK: South Korea D-2 student visa guide]

The Netherlands: A 20 Year Streak Just Ended

Now the other half of this story. According to Nuffic, the Netherlands' own body for internationalisation in education, 129,764 international students were enrolled in full degree programmes at Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences during the 2025/26 academic year. That is 133 fewer students than the year before.

On its own, a drop of 133 students sounds almost too small to matter. But the direction is what makes it a genuine milestone. This is the first decline in international student numbers the Netherlands has recorded in 20 years, ending a run where annual growth of 10 to 20 percent used to be completely normal. Growth had already been slowing for a few years before this, from 7 percent three years ago, down to 5.4 percent, then 3 percent last year, before finally tipping into an actual decline.

Nuffic researcher Jonatan Weenink was blunt about it, calling it a clear break in the trend, and warning that continued weakness in new bachelor's enrolments makes further shrinkage likely in the coming years, eventually reaching master's level too.

Why the Netherlands Drop Actually Matters More Than "0.1 Percent" Sounds

Two details make this more significant than the headline number suggests.

New undergraduate enrolments are falling harder than the total number shows. New international bachelor's students dropped 3.8 percent at research universities and 2.9 percent at universities of applied sciences this year. Since undergraduate students normally stay in the Netherlands for several years, a shrinking intake today points to further total declines ahead, not a one year blip.

The apparent growth at master's level is partly an illusion. New master's enrolments actually rose, up 2.9 percent at universities and 8.4 percent at universities of applied sciences. But Nuffic itself notes this growth is largely explained by international students already studying in the Netherlands moving up from their bachelor's degree into a master's, rather than genuinely new students choosing the country. Strip out those internal transfers, and the underlying picture at master's level is weaker too.

Two source countries are driving much of the decline. German student numbers have fallen for five consecutive years since a 2021 peak of 24,555, down to 18,200 this year, a trend Nuffic partly links to Germany's own tightened training requirements for psychology and psychotherapy programmes since 2020. Chinese student numbers fell even harder, down 28 percent, or 988 students, the steepest single year drop since 2006, with researchers openly saying they are not entirely sure why.

There are pockets of genuine strength worth noting too. TU Delft grew 8 percent and TU Eindhoven grew 19 percent this year, the only institutions to show real growth, both leaning heavily on engineering programmes. Students from India and Spain are also becoming more prominent, partly offsetting the German and Chinese declines. But even Amsterdam, long one of the country's biggest draws, recorded its first ever decline this year.

The broader backdrop matters here too. Dutch policymakers have spent recent years actively debating whether to cap international student numbers, largely in response to a persistent national housing shortage that has made student accommodation genuinely difficult to find in several major cities. This is not simply students losing interest. It is, at least in part, the visible result of a country that has been quietly signalling it wants to slow down.

[INTERNAL LINK: Netherlands study visa requirements guide]

What's Really Driving Each Country's Choice

Put side by side, the contrast makes sense once you know the underlying pressures each country is responding to.

South Korea is dealing with one of the fastest ageing populations and sharpest workforce shortages anywhere in the developed world, particularly in its regions outside Seoul. Bringing in skilled international students and giving them a real path to stay and work is a direct policy response to that demographic problem.

The Netherlands, by contrast, has been managing the opposite pressure: genuine housing shortages, political concern about integration capacity, and growing public debate about how much international enrolment the country can comfortably absorb. Slower growth, or even a small decline, is arguably closer to what recent Dutch policy discussions have been aiming for, even if officials would not frame a 20 year streak ending quite that plainly.

South Korea vs the Netherlands, Side by Side

What This Means for Students Weighing Their Options

For a student choosing between destinations right now, this contrast is genuinely useful information, not just interesting trivia. South Korea is actively building new, real pathways from study straight into skilled work and long term residency, particularly in technical and vocational fields, and particularly in regions outside the capital. The Netherlands remains an excellent academic destination, especially for strong engineering programmes at institutions like TU Delft and TU Eindhoven, but the broader national picture now involves real housing pressure and a policy environment that is not currently expanding to welcome more students the way it did for two decades.

Neither of these is a simple "better" or "worse" verdict. It depends entirely on the student's field, their long term goals, and how much weight they place on a clear post study pathway versus an established academic reputation.

What This Means for Consultants Advising Study Abroad Clients

1. Update South Korea from a "worth mentioning" destination to a genuinely competitive option, particularly for students interested in technical, vocational or engineering fields, given how aggressively the post study pathway has expanded this year.
2. Be upfront with Netherlands bound clients about the housing situation, since this is a real, practical challenge tied directly to the policy environment behind the enrolment slowdown, not just a rumour.
3. Point engineering focused clients specifically toward TU Delft and TU Eindhoven if the Netherlands remains their preference, since these are the clear exceptions to the national trend.
4. Watch South Korea's August and November 2026 policy announcements closely, since the country's own consultative body is actively redesigning its international student visa framework right now, and further changes are expected.
5. Do not assume every South Korean visa category is easing. Be clear with clients that this openness applies specifically to skilled and student pathways, while low skilled labour visa quotas have been cut sharply over the same period.

Quick Checklist Before You Recommend Either Destination

•  Confirmed the client's field of study benefits from South Korea's newly eased vocational and post study pathways, if relevant
•  Discussed the Netherlands' housing availability honestly, especially for cities outside Delft and Eindhoven
•  Checked whether the client's target Dutch institution is one of the ones showing growth or one facing the broader decline
•  Reviewed South Korea's specific language and salary requirements for post study work visas like E-7-M before setting expectations
•  Set a reminder to revisit South Korea's policy landscape after its August and November 2026 announcements

The Bigger Lesson Here

This is really a story about two countries solving two very different problems with the same tool. South Korea is using international students to fix a workforce and demographic gap. The Netherlands is managing the growing pains of two decades of uninterrupted growth colliding with a housing crisis. Neither direction is permanent, and neither should be treated as the whole story on its own. The consultants who explain both sides clearly, rather than just repeating "Korea is up, Netherlands is down," are the ones giving clients advice they can actually act on.