‘Growing pains’ lead to problems in Law and Business Administration programmes

The Keuzegids 2019 concludes that the quality of Erasmus University programmes is at risk, particularly when it comes to large-scale programmes with high student numbers such as Law, Business Administration and Economics. According to the editors of the guide, the reason is a sharp increase in the number of students. The Business Administration and Law programmes experienced a 25 percent rise in student numbers.

Law was the lowest-rated programme among all EUR programmes, with students giving a score of only 36 out of 100. Last year it was 44. According to the guide, the problem lies in the low calibre of academic development (three minuses), as well as dissatisfaction with facilities and assessment (two minuses).

Rotterdam School of Management’s Dutch-taught Bedrijfskunde (Business Administration) bachelor’s programme received a total score of 48 (two points lower than last year), placing it at the bottom of all business administration programmes. The faculty performs poorly when it comes to ‘surviving the first year’, the number of contact hours, and facilities. Even the programme’s lecturers received two minuses from students.

Economics is also struggling: with 52 points, it only outscored Utrecht and Amsterdam. Eight programmes received a higher score. Nevertheless, there has been some minor progress compared to last year, when the programme received a score of 48. The concerns at Economics that need to be addressed include successfully completing the first year, the curriculum, the calibre of lecturers, the programme’s practice-oriented nature, and the facilities.

Plummeting

One programme showing significant improvement is Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen (general humanities). Scoring only 52 last year, the programme now received a score of 68. In contrast, the previously highly rated Philosophy programme is in free fall. Plummeting every year, the programme went from a 90 in 2016 to 70 in the latest guide. Liberal Arts and Sciences was the most highly rated of all EUR programmes (72 points), but this is still a ten point drop compared to last year.

Erasmus University’s programmes score 57 points on average, while in 2016 their average score was 64. The Keuzegids gave the university as a whole a score of 55. With this score, Rotterdam narrowly edges the University of Amsterdam, which placed last (54 points). Just like last year, Wageningen emerged as the best university.

Fewer educational spaces available

The Faculty of Law could not yet provide an explanation for the low score of the programme. The university recognizes that there have been facility problems, mainly due to the temporary closure of the Polak building and the rapid increase in the number of students. “It requires a great deal of effort to keep the study experience up to standard, and we naturally take the expected population growth into account in the real estate policy. The fact is, however, that we will have fewer educational spaces available in the coming period due to the continued campus renewal. ”

Otherwise, the university sees things a lot brighter than the Keuzegids. “The annual National Student Survey shows that EUR students are generally satisfied with their university: both the curriculum and the study atmosphere receive more than 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. This also applies to the extent to which students would recommend their university to friends, family or colleagues. In many areas the Erasmus University scores close to or at the national average “, a spokesperson said.

Keuzegids

The Keuzegids is presented to secondary school pupils annually to assist them in choosing a study programme. The assessments are calculated based on the National Student Survey and indicators from the universities themselves. Assessments from experts are also used in compiling the total score.