Still fewer MBO students make the transfer to higher professional education. There are several causes for this and even the high room rent plays along.
Tamara (19) is in the third year of the Electrical Engineering course at Hanze. Before she started Electro, she completed secondary vocational education. ‘I sometimes look at vacancies in my field of work. Almost everywhere they want someone with MBO-4. I often hear that employers would rather not want HBO graduates because they are too expensive. Then I sometimes think: okay, should I have known this earlier?’
There are simply fewer young people, especially in the North
Since 2020, fewer and fewer MBO students have been switching to MBO. That year, 2,520 students with an MBO diploma enrolled at the Hanze. In 2023 this was significantly lower, only 1968 students, a decrease of 28 percent. Hanze spokeswoman Pernille Claessen says that this has to do with demographic developments. ‘There are simply fewer young people, especially in the North. The Regional Training Centers produce fewer students at MBO 4 level. This reduces the number of potential students moving on to higher professional education.’ In other words: fewer fish swim in the pond from which colleges fish.
Everyone is eager for professionals: the MBO students
Another reason for the smaller number of MBO transfer students is that the labor market has a great need for MBO graduates. Pernille: ‘You can see this in the number of campaigns in which young people are encouraged to choose a secondary vocational education.’ Because the demand for professionals is high and the supply is low, the starting salaries of MBO graduates are increasing.
But not all MBO students benefit from this. The actor training that Matthew (27) followed, gave him a few nice roles, but not a big sandwich. ‘I wanted to do something that made me happy,’ he says, ‘not necessarily a course with the most future prospects.’ After a few years he decided to continue his studies. ‘I want more security because I want a family later. For this you need more financial support. Well, for every position I looked at, they asked for a higher professional thinking level.’ That is why Matthew is now studying Communications.
For some MBO students, a HBO education takes too long
Also Leslie (25) felt the need to continue growing. After completing his MBO Sports and Exercise training, he went to work. ‘I was order picker, but that job ultimately left me feeling useless. I still lived with my mother and wanted to study again and leave home.’
Because he thought four years was a long time for another education, Leslie opted for one association degree in Sports. This is a shortened HBO course. (The number of MBO students who opt for an AD has been stable in recent years). “The Hanze thinks the ADs are an excellent option, also for MBO students who want to continue their studies,” says spokeswoman Pernille Claessen.
A few years ago, Leslie was about to start a four-year higher professional education course, but he decided against it due to the restrictions that applied during the corona period. ‘In my first gap year I registered for the teacher training college. But when it turned out that a lot of lessons would be taught online, I decided against it.’
MBO students think that higher professional education is too ambitious
As mentioned, jobs at MBO level are financially attractive. ‘A friend of mine had gone to higher professional education to become a physics teacher,’ says Mattheüs, ‘but then he was offered a job at secondary vocational education level, where he could earn much more.’ Tamara: ‘I have an acquaintance who wanted to continue studying. But in the end he didn’t do it, because they don’t want HBO graduates in his field.’ Tamara herself was offered a job soon after she obtained her MBO diploma. ‘I had only just created a LinkedIn profile when the first message came in.’
Hanze lecturer in Occupational Therapy Agnes Schilder spoke to many former MBO students for the research into MBO-HBO transfer programs of the Talent and Talent Development professorship. ‘In a number of interviews I heard students say that they… only an MBO student and that their teachers confirm that image. As if higher professional education is out of reach for them. While MBO students often do very well at a university of applied sciences.’
Studying is so expensive that MBO students want to earn money first
Another hurdle for MBO students is the high costs. Schilder even thinks that this could be a higher threshold for MBO students than for HAVO and VWO students, the other prospective HBO students. ‘It is expensive for MBO students to do HBO and if society tells you that it will take you longer to complete your studies, this could hold you back.’
Tamara can recognize herself there. ‘I was lucky that my mother supported me. Whether I would have started it if I hadn’t had that support… I don’t know.’ According to Schilder, many MBO graduates choose to start working straight away. ‘I have spoken to a number of MBO students who wanted to do HBO, but simply because of the living conditions decided to earn money first.’
That’s exactly what Leslie did. ‘When I started, I could pay for the training because I had a job. But when you are about 18 or 19 and you see how expensive the rooms in Groningen are… Then it becomes difficult, especially when you cannot rely on your parents.’
Photo: HBO students with an MBO diploma. Leslie (left) and Tamara (right)
