Meester Cornelis Military School was opened in 1852 and closed in 1892. While not the first military school in the Dutch East Indies, it was certainly the most successful. One third of the students were born in the colony; the majority came from the Netherlands; and one tenth were other Europeans, mostly from Germany. Most students were from the middle class. The school was later closed down because of financial problems: only one in three students graduated, so the costs per student were unacceptably high.