Minister questioned about Bangladeshi students – promises to restrain the intake

The high admission rates of students from Bangladesh to Danish universities are striking and reflect a problematic development. That was the message from Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund (M) on Tuesday when she was asked to comment on the development, which Omnibus reported on at the beginning of the year. 

Not just at AU: Students from Bangladesh flock to Danish universities

The development is problematic, the minister explained at the consultation, because "it turns out that many of the students who have come here from Bangladesh in recent years do not have the prerequisites needed to study at a higher education institution here."

"A picture is emerging that the real intention of taking up residence in Denmark is not primarily to study, but to work, and that is not acceptable. We cannot accept that academic regulations are misused as a back door to the labour market," Christina Egelund said.

The minister was invited to the consultation by the Education and Research Committee, led by Mikkel Bjørn (DF) and Sandra Elisabeth Skalvig (LA).

Specifically, the minister was asked to explain how the government relates to "the fact that Denmark in these years is wide open as a floodgate for a massive influx of students as well as spouses and children from the predominantly Muslim country of Bangladesh, when it is abundantly clear that there is a systematic exploitation of the student visa scheme as a migration route into the Danish welfare society," as Mikkel Bjørn described it. 

Spouses and cheap education

At the consultation, Christina Egelund provided more details about the government's plans to curb the development. They intend to tighten the rules regarding the two main reasons why students from Bangladesh come to Denmark. According to the minister, it is because they can bring their spouse, who is also permitted to work in the meantime, and because Danish universities have cheaper education compared to other European countries. 

"These are the two measures we will take to curb the development," the minister said, when repeatedly asked to clarify exactly what the measures entail. 

How it should be designed, however, is not the minister's own task, she said, but rather the responsibility of Immigration and Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek (Social Democrats). 

"He completely agrees with me that we should do it. So we are going to address this. But the specifics of how a new provision should be designed, I simply cannot explain here," Christina Egelund said. 

She also explained that before the next intake, in 2026, the admission requirements for the master's programmes will be tightened. Who exactly it applies to was not elaborated. 

The minister confirmed that some students from Bangladesh have been granted student visas in Denmark on an incorrect basis. 

"There have been cases of fraud with diplomas, and therefore it will also be an important part of this effort to enable the universities to sort good, genuine diplomas from bad diplomas,” Christina Egelund said.

Didn't get an answer as to when the minister first heard about the increase

The minister explained that in the spring of 2025, she first became aware that many of the students from Bangladesh did not have the level required to succeed at Danish universities. When she became aware of it, she asked to have it examined. 

However, Berlingske has just revealed how the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science received emails from Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen as early as January 2023 about what AU described in the email as a "huge increase in applicants from Bangladesh". Therefore, several politicians at the consultation wanted answers as to when the minister became aware of the increase in applicants from Bangladesh. In January 2023, UCPH wanted to know whether there was anything it should be aware of and asked the agency for advice and guidance. Omnibus first reported on the many applications to AU from Bangladesh in 2023, and in January 2025, Omnibus covered the various challenges posed by the high number of applicants and admissions from Bangladesh to AU.

Applications from students from Bangladesh have more than doubled in one year, making them the largest group of international Master’s degree students at AU.

When she first became aware of the development in the admission figures for students from Bangladesh, the Minister for Higher Education and Science couldn’t answer precisely.

"There is nothing secret in the admission figures of students from Bangladesh or other countries, for that matter. So I have no problem telling you where the numbers can be found, or when I became aware of them. That is just not what I have been asked to answer. It was other questions that were asked ahead of the hearing. And today, I don't know exactly when I first saw a figure on admissions for students from Bangladesh, whether it has been in a ministerial context, during meetings or in the press. We would, of course, like to try to dig it up if you think it is interesting," Christina Egelund said. 

On 31 August, she explained to Berlingske that neither she nor her department was aware of the reports that came from universities in 2023. 

"I don't think we’ve received specific answers to very much"

Mikkel Bjørn was not satisfied with Christina Egelund's response to the consultation. 

"I don't think we’ve received specific answers to many of our questions. The minister can’t explain when she became aware of this development, nor can she explain what specific initiatives are planned to prevent this phenomenon from continuing. It’s also not possible to answer what is planned to be done to ensure that those who have arrived without the necessary academic qualifications have their student visas revoked so they can return home. And there is also no answer as to what is planned to sanction universities that have financially speculated on how they could rescue their finances by conducting immigration policy in Denmark," Mikkel Bjørn concluded.  

With his final comment, Mikkel Bjørn was probably referring to Roskilde University, where one in six newly admitted Master's degree students in 2024 was from Bangladesh, as described in Berlingske. The Freedom Letter wrote on 28 August that RUC "has for years been conducting a targeted campaign to attract students from outside the EU's borders, including Bangladesh, to secure the university's finances."

A large drop in admissions of students from Bangladesh 

The latest figures for the admission of international students show that the universities have actually managed to restrain the intake of students from Bangladesh. The preliminary figures for summer intakes this year show a decrease of 29 percent in admissions from Bangladesh compared to 2024, Christina Egelund said at the consultation. 

"All else being equal, it shows that the universities are aware of the challenge and are also actively working to solve it," Christina Egelund said. 

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen