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Dutch universities are supported by public funding (with the exception of Nyenrode Business University) so that
universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
do not have to rely on private funding to pay for tuition. This public funding is entirely output-based, determined by the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees delivered. Except for this output-based funding, Dutch universities are almost entirely private entities (i.e. foundations) that, since 1998, own and operate their real estate at their own risk; moreover, the employees of Dutch universities have labor contracts based on private sector terms (as of 2020). All citizens of the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
who complete high school at the pre-academic level ( vwo) or have a
professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...
propedeuse at HBO level, signifying they have finished their first year course, are eligible to attend university. In the case of an HBO-propedeuse some restrictions may apply as to deficiencies in High School subjects. Three universities (
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
,
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
and
Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...
) have restrictive requirements based on academic ability, and all universities have restrictive requirements for some of their programs because the number of prospective students sometimes outnumbers the number of available places. Many Dutch students attend universities relatively far from their parental homes (in contrast to universities in Italy and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
for example), although scarcity of accommodation sometimes forces students to commute. As a compensation for this, Dutch students normally receive a card (OV-chipkaart) that allows them to use public transport for free during part of the week (either workdays or the weekend) and with a discount during the other part. Waiting lists for student accommodation in the Netherlands can be more than a year, particularly in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, so many students rent a room in the private sector. Quality differences between Dutch universities are generally small, and the best university in one subject can be the worst in another. This is one of the reasons why none of them tend to end in the top tier of international university ranking systems. All of them, however, score well above average. Instruction at the undergraduate level tends to be in Dutch, but it is in English for most Masters and PhD programs. Dutch universities used to offer only four- or five-year courses. Since 2002 most of them now offer three-year undergraduate programmes, leading to a bachelor's degree, and one- or two-year Master's programmes. Old habits remain, partly because stopping after a BSc is seen as "dropping out", and a large majority of university students enroll on master's courses. To confuse matters, students attending Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO) also obtain a bachelor's degree, but the programmes in these institutes usually take four years instead of three. It is possible to continue after a HBO (''Hoger beroepsonderwijs'', "higher occupational education") bachelor's degree to a university master's, with often a pre-master deficiency program or other additional requirements on minimum
GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...
.


See also

*
List of universities in the Netherlands A listing of universities in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Research universities Research university, universities in the Netherlands are institutions of tertiary education that in Dutch are called ''universiteit''. Their focus is towards a ...
*
Education in the Netherlands Education in the Netherlands is characterized by division: education is oriented toward the needs and background of the pupil. Education is divided over schools for different age groups, some of which are divided in streams for different educatio ...
*
Academic degrees An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into un ...
*
University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
**
British universities Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Deg ...
** French universities **
Italian universities Higher education in Italy is mainly provided by a large and international network of public and state affiliated universities. State-run universities of Italy are under the supervision of Italian's Ministry of Education. There is also a number ...
**
Spanish universities There are 89 universities in Spain, most of which are supported by state funding. 39 Spanish universities are private, of which 7 are affiliated with the Catholic Church. Former degrees were: *''Licenciatura'' or ''ingenierĂ­a'', can last four, fi ...
**
US universities In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the ...


External links


Search for officially recognised programmes in the Netherlands

Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders/Belgium (NVAO)

The Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences

Studiekeuze123.nl, an overview and comparison of all Dutch-taught studies of the universities in the Netherlands

Eurogates, a searching database of English-taught programmes and grants for study in Holland

Directory
an
Ranking
of the Netherlands


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutch Universities