Introduction
Every year, many people – in particular students and young professionals – decide to move to the Netherlands. After attending university in the Netherlands, over a quarter of students decide to settle permanently in this country.
Understanding the reasons for this choice is simple. Not only does the Netherlands offer better job opportunities, enabling expats to find a job in their own sector, but also the Dutch quality of life is very high and so is the quality of the country’s higher education system.
Dutch universities enjoy a very high reputation worldwide, hence qualifications and diplomas obtained in the Netherlands are considered very competitive at the international level.
Every year, Dutch universities welcome large numbers of students from all over the world offering over 2000 international courses. You can find a full list of courses here: https://www.studyinholland.nl/dutch-education/studies.
International students come mostly from Germany, China, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and the US. These students are attracted by interactive teaching methods focused on problem-based learning, a learning system focused on independent study aimed at encouraging interaction between students (team work).
Structure of the university system and ECTS
The organisation of courses is very similar to that of other European universities. After obtaining a high school diploma, you can enrol in a bachelor’s degree course. You have to obtain 60 ECTS in one academic year.
There are two types of universities in the Netherlands:
- research university (WO): 3-year courses which provide a wide range of disciplines, 18 of them taught in English. At the end of the course, a period of work-oriented integration is foreseen.
- university of applied sciences (Hogeschool/HBO): 4-year courses aiming at the immediate integration into the labour market after obtaining the qualification. Starting from the 3rd year, students have to attend mandatory internships. At present, over 40 courses of this kind are offered to international students.
Once obtained a Bachelor’s degree, students can apply for Master’s or a PhD. Most universities also offer 1 year “intermediate” programmes between the Bachelor and the Master’s degree, which allow international students to fill any potential gaps and gain extra credits (between 15 and 60 ECTS) to ensure access to second-level degrees.
Masters have a duration of 1 or 2 years and can be research or practice-oriented. Usually (but not mandatorily), 2-year courses are recommended to students who want to continue their education with a PhD. MA, MSc, LLM, MBA, MEd o MM are all equivalent degrees.
PhDs are meant for academics who want to do research. PhD students usually earn a salary from the university or different scholarship providers. Most doctorate students earn their placements through public tenders; they get paid as an university employee, often acting as a professor’s assistant.
Students who do not pass the academic year, earning a score below 5.5, are given the opportunity to take a make-up exam. The Binded Studie Advises is a sort of University Council that, each year, checks whether a student has reached the required ECTS to access the following academic year; in case of necessity, this body notifies the students in advance. In case the student fails to pass both the academic year and the make-up exam, the University will call upon them to drop the course; students are then banned from undertaking that course again at the same university.
How to apply
In order to apply to and enroll in a Dutch University, you will need a high school diploma of equivalent value to the Dutch one. Usually, in Dutch universities an admission test is not required.
As for any other international course, in addition to the high school diploma, a language certification is required. The certification needed are IELTS (minimum 6 points) or TOEFL (minimum 80 points).
Moreover, in order to apply to courses, you’ll need a CV, a cover letter/ personal statement and a reference letter from one of your professors.
You can apply to Dutch universities in two ways: through the web page of the university you would like to enter or through Studielink (recommended and most popular among international students) and the Nuffic international education web page (https://www.studielink.nl/). Nuffic is the Dutch organization for educational internationalization.
Keep in mind that Dutch universities offer a high level of preparation also because they’re extremely selective: most courses have a limited number of places available and not all candidates get a spot at the course of their choice. If your grades are lacking, if your level of English is not adequate or if you fail to qualify for the course you would like to enrol in, an alternative way to increase your chances to be selected is to attend preparation courses and gain some extra credits from a Dutch university.
Deadlines to remember
In order to apply for most courses, the deadline you have to remember is May 1st : until that day you can apply through Studielink. However, if you’ve chosen a particular course or faculties like medicine, dentistry and other health professions, your deadline will be January 15th.
Some universities, particularly profession-oriented ones, allow you to apply until the beginning of August or until there are places available. In any case, registering on Studielink within the deadlines of January and May is mandatory, even in case of a late application in the summer.
Tuition fees
Most universities in the Netherlands are public. Tuition fees are established at government level and are rather low compared to the quality of education provided, the modern infrastructures and the level of resources offered to students.
EU students pay the same fees as Dutch ones, while students from outside the EU pay an increased fee.
- EU students: €2,060 annual fee for public universities. Higher costs for private ones.
- extra EU students: annual fees from €6,000 for public universities. Higher costs for private ones.
Knowing the language
One of the main pros about the Netherlands is the widespread knowledge of English among the general population. This allows expats to communicate and integrate well with no need to learn Dutch.
Regarding university access, an appropriate knowledge of English is needed for all international courses. That knowledge must be certified by IELTS, TOEFL or, rarely, by Cambridge exams.