STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS

Opportunities for foreign graduates in Holland

International students who graduate in the Netherlands are likely to be given more opportunities to look for work after completing their studies. The Netherlands government is planning to give them 12 months to look for work following graduation, rather than the current three months. Furthermore, the minimum qualifying starting salary is to be lowered to 25,000 Euro and the admission procedures will be simplified.
These changes are designed to help non-EU nationals, as EU citizens are already free to look for work and take up residence in any other EU member state.

SEARCH STUDY PROGRAMMES IN ENGLISH

In the NUFFIC database you'll find about 1,300 study programmes taught in English.

In the www.nuffic.nl database of international study programmes and courses, you'll find about 1,300 study programmes entirely taught in English, ranging from short training seminars to full-fledged bachelor's and master's degree programmes.
All institutions that are listed in this database, have signed the Code of Conduct. This Code sets out standards for Dutch higher education institutions in their dealings with international students. By signing the Code of Conduct, the institutions are offering international students a guarantee of the quality of their programmes, student recruitment, selection and counselling procedures.

All Dutch higher education institutions are mentioned on the NUFFIC website www.nuffic.nl or www.studyin.nl.  Some of them are:

Delft University of Technology:   www.studyat.tudelft.nl

Erasmus University:    http://www.eur.nl/english/
Institute for Housing and Urban Development: http://www.ihs.nl/start.htm
   
University of Leiden:    www.leiden.edu – study@io.leidenuniv.nl

Hogeschool van Amsterdam
School of Economics and Business:  www.international.hva.nl

University Utrecht:    www.uu.nl -
http://www.uu.nl/uupublish/homeuu/homeenglish/studying/programmesinengl/4451main.html

University of Maastricht:   http://www.unimaas.nl/default.asp?taal=en

AMSU Summer Courses:   http://www.amsu.edu/courses/social/eco22003.htm
Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University

Institute of Social Studies   www.iss.nl - http://www.iss.nl/content/view/full/2767

Another database that provides detailed information on English-taught bachelor’s and master’s programmes available in the Netherlands is called STUDYCHOICE.

The new www.studychoice.nl website gives details of 700 English-taught bachelor’s and master’s programmes in the Netherlands. The site is unique because it allows visitors to compare bachelor’s and master’s programmes in terms of quality, study pace, student services, as well as student opinions on things like teaching quality and the cost of room rents.

The site also provides information on the population size of cities and on the number of students studying there.

Website visitors are able to select the criteria which they find important. This makes it the most complete site with information on higher education in the Netherlands.

Backed by research, the data is reliable and objective. All listed study programmes are accredited and all higher education institutions have endorsed the Code of Conduct, the national quality mark for international students.

International student numbers on the rise in Holland

After the introduction of the bachelor – master system in the Netherlands, more and more international students are finding study in Holland an attractive option.

In 2007, there were 49,750 international students in the Netherlands, an increase compared to 2006. The largest groups of international students come from Germany and China.

The bachelor – master system makes it easier for students from other countries to find a suitable study programme.

Two-thirds of the master’s programmes are now taught in English and therefore attract a lot of interest from outside the Netherlands.

The high international standing of Dutch research is also appealing.

To make things easier for international students, the immigration procedures they have to follow when coming to the Netherlands were simplified in 2007.

Background

The www.studychoice.nl website was created under the auspices of the Studiekeuze123 partnership in partnership with Nuffic, the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education.

The representative bodies of the higher education institutions (HBO-Raad, VSNU and PAEPON) and the students' organizations (LSVb and ISO) are jointly responsible for the running of www.studychoice.nl.

A panel of experts monitors the quality of the information offered. The project is financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and implemented by SURFfoundation (the higher education and research partnership for ICT in the Netherlands). 

If you possess a Netherlands passport it may be interesting to visit regarding study allowances: http://www.ib-groep.nl
Informatie Beheer Groep
Regiokantoor Utrecht
Herman Gorterstraat 40
3511EW Utrecht
Ph: 0031-50-5997755

Then there is:
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen (Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences)

e-mail:webmaster@minocw.nl
http://www.minocw.nl

For your information: The Dutch study year starts in September and runs to +/- June of the following year.