Over the past few months, non-EU students in Denmark have watched the rules that apply to them tighten and the political tone harden. For students, what began as a carefully planned educational journey has increasingly been overshadowed by debates about migration, working alongside studies, and whether they should be allowed to stay in Denmark.
In recent years, Denmark has tightened the framework around international students from outside the EU, particularly from Bangladesh and Nepal. Ministers have warned against “misuse” of study permits, and the government has announced initiatives to raise tuition fees, step up document checks, prevent non‑EU students from bringing family members and shorten the post‑study job‑seeking period.
READ ALSO: What are the Danish government’s new restrictions on international students?
The Local's contributor Rushnan Binte Amin, who herself moved to Denmark from Bangladesh to study Business Administration and Leadership at Roskilde University, spoke to four prospective, current and former students about how the new tougher regime was affecting them.
Moumita, who previously worked for an NGO and a well-known social enterprise in Bangladesh, had planned to apply for a master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Management in Denmark. Now, she is reconsidering after Roskilde University (RUC) closed down this master’s program and Denmark changed the rules so that students can no longer bring family members.
“I want to have career growth and international exposure in my academic background, but at what cost? Not at the cost of my family," she told The Local. "I cannot leave my child behind."
She has a two-year-old son. Higher education and professional growth matter, she explains, but not at the cost of splitting her family across borders.
Moumita said she had been attracted to Roskilde's Social Entrepreneurship course because of the growing opportunities for work in social enterprises in Bangladesh and had been surprised when the university ended the program. "We are hearing it might be due to political pressure," she said.
She says she knows of other prospective students in similar situations who are, like her, now looking at other countries which still allow students to bring their families and which also give them a reasonable amount of time to look for and find work after graduation.
Highly ranked
When Imran (not his real name), a masters student of Global and Development Studies at RUC, began looking for options abroad, Denmark stood out. “I chose Denmark for three reasons,” he says. “The programme I applied for had lower tuition fees than those in many other countries. The admission process was more straightforward because I only had to pay the first semester’s fee instead of showing a big bank statement. And Denmark allows international students to bring their family members.”
He was not the only student for whom this last point was decisive.
“My husband and I were able to come together to Denmark from Bangladesh at the same time,” says Tarana, who is now in her final semester of a master’s in business administration and leadership at RUC. She specifically wanted a research‑oriented degree that could be a pathway to a PhD.
For Afia, who studies Global and Development Studies, the aim was to study at a European university known for having high academic standards. “I chose Denmark because it was my dream to pursue higher education at a highly ranked university,” she says. “Denmark offers a high quality education system, modern facilities and a practical learning environment.”
Nadia (not her real name), another Bangladeshi master’s student, says that even with the advantages Denmark offered, moving to the country to study was still a significant step for Bangladeshi students.
“Studying in Denmark is a major investment for us both financially and personally,” she explains. “International students pay significant tuition fees and go through a long and demanding process of applications, documentation and visa procedures.”
READ ALSO: Danish university scraps Master's degree after row over international students
Hard to watch
Afia has found the debate over Bangladeshi students, which broke out shortly after she arrived, hard to watch,
“After coming to Denmark, I faced controversies and negative discussions about Bangladeshi students,” she says. “It was quite demotivating and affected my studies, as I did not expect this in a developed country.”
Imran remembers hearing comments suggesting that some students are “really here to work”.
“Public discussions sometimes create broad narratives about Bangladeshi and Nepali students,” he says. “People say we are not serious about our studies, that we come mainly to work, or that Denmark is only a stepping stone to move to other European countries. There may be individual cases, but it’s unfair when everyone is put in the same box.”
Rather than the political and media focus remaining abstract, Tarana says she has at times felt personally blamed. “I felt very belittled and even humiliated, both personally and academically.”
Her university, she says, tried to respond. “My university has taken action for counselling us and they did a lot of sessions and meetings to make clear statements from their end,” she explains.
Hearing politicians single out Bangladeshi students has been particularly painful. “I felt terrible and alienated as well,” she says. “Directly pointing to a specific country is, I think, the worst thing.”
High stakes
It has not all been bad. All four students have positive things to say about the academic side of their degrees.
“Academically, it has been a very good environment,” Imran says. “The teachers are extremely supportive and approachable, and the overall quality of education is quite high. I have never felt any discrimination from faculty members based on my background.”
International students often highlight the project‑based teaching model and close contact with lecturers are two distinctive features of the Danish system.
For Nadia, the current debate ignores just how much is at stake for non‑EU students. Unlike Danes and EU citizens, who study for free and can receive SU grants, non‑EU students typically pay full tuition fees, which can sometimes come to tens of thousands of kroner per semester, while also covering their living costs.
“Many of us already have work experience before coming here,” she says. “We come with genuine academic and professional goals," she says.
Before even setting foot in Denmark, students spend months preparing application material, writing statements of purpose and gathering the financial documentation required for visas. “This is not something people do on a whim".
Traditionally, those who studied for a degree in Denmark were allowed to stay on and look for a job afterwards. New measures and proposals aim to shorten that post‑study period and restrict work rights, particularly in some types of programmes. For students already in Denmark, this has changed how they think about life after graduation.
“As an international student who has invested significant time and resources to study here, I naturally think about what opportunities might exist after graduation,” Imran says. “At the moment, the policies make it seem quite challenging to stay in Denmark in the long term.”
For Tarana, who once saw her research‑based master’s as a path to a PhD or corporate role in Denmark, the outlook now feels very different. “Yes, definitely,” she says when asked if recent rule changes and debates have created uncertainty about her future.
“I now see no room for making a career, be it in corporate or as a PhD student, in Denmark.”
Individuals
Imran wants the wider public to look beyond headlines. “There are many Bangladeshi and Nepali students who are genuinely committed to their education,” he says. “We just want to be seen as individuals.”
Tarana’s message to policymakers is simple. “Be open about all nationalities,” she says. “Don’t just focus on one particular country.”
Across Danish universities, international students like Imran, Afia, Nadia and Tarana continue to attend lectures, work on group projects and juggle part‑time jobs with exam deadlines. Their daily routines look much like those of their Danish classmates.
What has changed is the backdrop: a tightening set of rules and a debate over who should be allowed to come, work and stay.
For these four students, the hope is that, after these policy shifts, their presence will still be seen as part of the international academic environment Denmark has spent years trying to build.
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