The power of the purse: student funding and the labour market for Dutch Reformed and Catholic theology students, 1800–1880

Abstract

Several European countries were unable to match student numbers with labour market demand during the nineteenth century. The causes of this mismatch may be found in the organisation of higher education and the funding of students. Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper compares financial support available to Reformed and Catholic theology students in The Netherlands, to examine how differences in student funding affected enrolment and labour-market patterns. While low tuition fees increased access to the public universities, generous student financing provided by numerous parties caused a structural oversupply of Protestant theology students. The private Catholic colleges instead selected students and applied grants specifically to encourage graduation, consequently balancing students more closely with labour-market demand. This relative success of regional colleges over national universities mirrors the primary education history literature on the benefits of local coordination and resource allocation.