When it comes to studying at a university in the Netherlands, there are two options, Research Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. Within this page you can find some of the advantages to studying at Applied Sciences, or the profession orientated approach as we like to say.
Apply Your Knowledge
Universities of Applied Sciences like here in Rotterdam offer a profession orientated approach to education. This is where you will learn to apply the knowledge you are being taught in class into a real life case study or business. It will prepare you for your professional life, we emphasise developing your hard and soft skills over various theories and models.
Employers in today's business world look for work experience that qualifies applicants for a position, and the programmes at universities of applied sciences are designed to prepare you professionally. We have a mandatory internship within the programme plus an internship based thesis at the end of your study to maximise your chances of heading straight into the world of work.
Small and Interactive Classrooms
At a University of Applied Science we want to hear your voice in the classroom, challenging not only your fellow classmates but also your lecturers. For this reason we keep our class sizes to a maximum of 30, at a research university you can expect class sizes to go up to 300 for standard lectures. We like to hear your voice and this is why the learning environment at a university of applied sciences can be at times the complete opposite of what you find at a research university.
Guided Support
Due to our class sizes being small and the education focus is on small project groups there is plenty of support out there for you; from your lecturer to peer coaches. Contact hours are usually higher in applied science universities over research universities. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that we will not spoon feed you, but if help and guidance is what you need, you can always find it.
More Info?
If you would like to know more about the advantages of Applied Sciences or the comparisions with Research Uni's please feel free to contact or check out the following links:
Centre of International Affairs - Recruitment Team - coia-recruiment@hr.nl
Study in Holland Website