Annual Report

Through engaging and flexible applied sciences education and innovative, practice-based research, HAN educates students who contribute to smart, green and social solutions to societal challenges. We do this in close cooperation with the professional field at regional, national and international levels.

Nearly 50 research centers and 7 centers of expertise focus on practice-based research, knowledge innovation and knowledge valorization. HAN offers bachelor, associate and master degree programs in full-time, part-time and work-study formats to more than 34,000 students from 114 countries – both first-time students and working professionals.

In addition, we provide consultancy, professional development and postgraduate programs, as well as courses and training for professionals in companies, institutions, and organizations.

Below are some key figures for 2024.

Students	2024	2023
Number of enrolled students on 1 October	34,321	34,930
Number of bachelor students	31,262	31,933
Number of associate degree students	1,597	1,431
Number of master students	4,462	1,566
Degree programs
Number of bachelor programs	56	55
Number of master programs	20	19
Number of associate degree programs	19	19
Number of unfunded learning programs	278	282
Research
Number of research centers	47	50
Number of Centers of Expertise		7

In 2024, numerous events took place both in the Netherlands and around the world that affected HAN and its community of students and staff. Geopolitical tensions and polarization are rising, while the housing crisis continues. Concerns about the climate persist, yet attention to sustainability, as well as diversity and inclusion can no longer be taken for granted. Government funding is declining as student numbers fall. And with the current political climate in the Netherlands, financial pressure on higher education is mounting. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, the impact has been limited  – for now – though some of the planned cuts for 2025 are still unknown. We continue to adapt to the developments around us and to the new (financial) reality, without losing sight of our students and the needs of the professional field. We make choices and take measures, sometimes with significant consequences for employees. Such changes bring uncertainty but also highlight the resilience with which we shape this new reality together. Our strategy, as set out in the 2022-2028 strategic plan Charting our Course, once again guided our actions in 2024. More than ever, it is essential that we achieve our strategic goals. This ensures that our education and research continue to meet the needs of the market and society. We want our students to evolve into reflective, socially engaged global citizens – an ambition that is also reflected in our own actions. We aim to be an organization where everyone feels at home, and we believe diversity and inclusion enrich our education, research and organization. Dialogue therefore remains crucial. It is also essential that our education and research portfolio is future-proof (also financially) and aligned with the changing needs of the professional field, our staff, and our current and future students and course participants. Portfolio management is playing an increasingly important role, and our current education and research portfolio has been reviewed with this in mind.

In 2024, HAN took further steps toward realizing the 2022-2028 strategic plan. For example, all schools reviewed how the indicators of the HAN World Citizenship model and the Student Profile for Digital and Data Literacy are incorporated into the curriculum of their degree programs and identified areas still requiring attention in this regard. This led to educational development plans in which ambitions regarding flexibilization were further translated into concrete implementation steps. Based on these development plans, the schools and programs have begun adapting their curricula. In terms of sustainable connections, an interactive map of "the region as a campus" was introduced, and a HAN lifelong development strategy was established, providing a basis for each school to define its own growth strategy. Finally, in the last quarter, 12,000 alumni were invited to join the HAN Professional Community, the central network for all our alumni and other professionals, to strengthen lifelong connections.

In 2024, student well-being and satisfaction received considerable attention once again. The schools and programs supported students through bonding activities and tailored support. Meanwhile, HAN-wide initiatives such as the Start Thermometer enabled first-year students to reflect on their choice of degree programs and their experiences during the first 100 days of their studies. The Empower Program was also launched, giving students at risk of dropping out the opportunity to explore a more suitable degree program. For employees, themes such as workload, leadership and agility remained priorities, as they have in recent years. This focus continued steadily in 2024.

The decline in financial resources again took center stage in 2024, driven by declining student numbers. The 2024–2025 academic year at HAN also saw a decrease in enrollment, and this downward trend is expected to continue in the coming years. Already in 2023, we responded to this new financial reality by focusing on improving student success rates, working and organizing more efficiently, and generating additional income through associate degrees, master degrees and course-based programs. In 2024, a HAN-wide Income Strategy Portfolio was developed to provide further guidance on this. Visible results of improved student success rates and increased income from associate degrees, master degrees and course-based programs will both take time to emerge. These efforts are being managed centrally. In order to work and organize more effectively, process optimization was initiated and opportunities to streamline support functions were explored in 2024. Adjustments to real estate and property management were also considered. Declining student numbers require staffing levels to adapt. To get a better grip on staffing developments, more centralized direction is now given to the renewal of temporary contracts, increases in hours and the filling of vacancies. HAN closed 2024 with a deficit of € 9.5 million. We continue to follow the policy of a controlled, loss-making operating budget, drawing on reserves to strengthen education, research and organizational resilience. This policy will continue in 2025, relying once again on the deliberate use of accumulated reserves to achieve a balanced operating result by 2027.

In 2024, we also concluded the Quality Agreements period that started in 2019. Over the past 6 years, quality resources were deployed according to the Adapted Quality Agreements Plan in a large number of large and small ongoing and short-incidental HAN projects at both the central and decentralized level. HAN has consciously committed to the full spectrum of the Quality Agreements themes. These resources helped accelerate and intensify improvements to infrastructure (property and digitization). Efforts were made in the schools to promote the professional development of lecturers and expand and streamline study coaching, which in turn allowed for more tailored support for specific target groups. We are pleased that quality resources will be structurally embedded in funding from 2025 onwards. This will allow us to continue our sustainable initiatives aimed at improving education quality and student coaching.

In 2024, we also continued implementing agreements from the Higher Education and Science Administrative Agreement, along with agreements made and additional resources allocated for specific objectives within that framework.

Our work in 2024 once again centered on our mission: a smart, green and social world. We look back with appreciation and pride at the results and successes achieved this year: valuable education, research and student projects, as well as collaborations with professional partners that contribute to even better education, research and a stronger region. A small selection of the many examples that illustrate our pride include: the positive inspections of many degree programs and research activities, the approximately 4,500 students who successfully graduated, the 13 student teams who competed for the title of Most Innovative Student of the Netherlands, the ten HAN students who participated in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the introduction of the Brightspace digital learning platform, and the continued improvement of our campus buildings and facilities. These achievements were made possible by the dedication, commitment and flexibility of our staff and students. Even in a new financial reality, HAN remains a strong, reliable and future-oriented knowledge institution.

19 May 2025

Rob Verhofstad, Yvonne de Haan and Aly Smelt-Medendorp

HAN Executive Board