02/02/2006 | Netherlands
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Why more international postgraduate students are choosing to study in the Netherlands

By: Thijs van Vugt, Tilburg University, the Netherlands

Study in the Netherlands

When thinking of Holland some very obvious images spring to mind. Tulips and wooden shoes, dykes and land reclamation, Heineken and Philips, and of course such illustrious painters as Rembrandt and van Gogh, not to mention the likes of Cruijff, Gullit and Van Basten. However, when it comes to postgraduate education, there is much more to Holland than that.

With the implementation of Bologna in Holland the supply of English-taught postgraduate degrees has almost skyrocketed. Most research intensive universities offer between 50 and 100% of their masters degree programmes in English and altogether, Dutch higher education institutions offer more than 1,000 degree and non-degree courses in English, making it only second to the UK in Europe.

The official name of the country is the Netherlands, meaning the Low Countries (appropriate as a large part is below sea level) though in most foreign languages it is referred to as Holland, which stems back to about 1100 AD. Although Holland is only a small country, on a global scale it is among the world’s most prosperous countries. Because of its size it has always been a country with an open attitude towards the outside world, making it a very internationally oriented country. It is no surprise, therefore, that Holland is the home base for multinationals like Heineken, KLM, Philips, ING Bank, Shell and Unilever and European headquarters for the likes of Sony, Sara Lee and Microsoft.

Overall, the quality of Dutch higher education is amongst the best in the world. According to the 2004 Times Higher Education Supplement's World University Rankings, no other country in the world can claim more than half of all its universities being ranked in the world's top 200. Moreover, according to the European Commission, the European top 20 consists of 7 Dutch universities, underlining to many students that choosing a Dutch university for their postgraduate qualification is above all else a guarantee of quality. A unique element of the quality on offer in Holland is the problem-based learning approach to postgraduate education. Training students to analyse and solve practical problems independently through self-study and in small groups is a key feature of this method of education. Generally speaking, the teaching style can be described as student-centred: students develop their own opinion through independent and creative thinking. At most universities this means that teaching is conducted in small tutorials, where interactivity is the norm rather than the exception. At all turns, students are invited to question the professors. Fina Kurreeman, a Mauritian masters student at Leiden University is typical of many international students who have enjoyed studying in Holland, “I will never forget the wise words offered to me by one of the professors: ‘Our objective is not only to teach you to reach academic excellence but also to attend to your growth as a person.’ The course ideally offered everything I personally needed. I really felt that I was learning everything related to the frontiers of Science. I am now working as an AIO (PhD student) at Leiden University and am thrilled at the thought of being part of an institution that cultivates great minds.”

Another feature of Dutch postgraduate degrees, especially since the implementation of the Bologna Accord, is the ease at which many international graduates move into the international labour market.With Holland being the home to so many major multinationals, graduates can very often find a job at one of the firms in Holland or their subsidiaries in their own home country, since they are in need of locals with international skills.

 

Like many Western countries, Holland is considered to have a multicultural society, made up of many nationalities. Amsterdam is said to have more than 200 different nationalities within its community and according to the Mercer study of 2004, the quality of life in Holland is very good – Amsterdam ranks 10th worldwide, compared with London at 35th and New York at 38th. The survey also indicates that Amsterdam is considered to be as safe as Vancouver and Montreal, but much safer than cities like Brussels, Berlin, Sydney, Hong Kong and New York. And if students exhaust the delights of Holland, then many European capitals, such as Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, and Copenhagen, are within very easy reach.

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