About University Colleges

Dutch universities already offer a comprehensive range of excellent bachelor programmes, but by establishing University Colleges they have succeeded in further widening the choice for students looking for top quality higher education in the Netherlands.

The University Colleges so far established by the Dutch universities tend to share the following characteristics:

• University-level undergraduate studies
• Three-year bachelor (Honours) programme
• Liberal arts and sciences approach
• Broad, interdisciplinary majors
• Small scale and selective
• High tempo, demanding, intensive studies, taught in English
• Dutch and international students living and studying together (residential)
• Small classes, low student to staff ratio
• Emphasis on personal tutoring/support of students

The University Colleges meet a demand both in the Netherlands and abroad for more English-taught bachelor-level programmes. Their liberal arts and sciences approach with its broad educational perspective is proving popular with both Dutch and international students alike.

The University Colleges have quickly been welcomed as a valuable addition to the Dutch higher education landscape, focusing on excellence at bachelor level. Their students consistently give them the best scores in national surveys (such as Elsevier's annual review of higher education in the Netherlands), particularly for the level of education and the quality of the teachers. Their graduates have qualified for top-level postgraduate programmes in the Netherlands and abroad.