13 ‘excellent’ Master’s programmes listed in guide – one taught at EUR

This year’s edition of the Keuzegids (Choosing Your Master’s Degree Guide) reports that thirteen Master’s programmes taught by Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences have been found to be ‘excellent’ by students taking said degree programmes. However, the editors who compiled the Guide stated that they were unsure that the student satisfaction rates sufficed to give a proper impression of the quality of the degree programmes.

The thirteen ‘excellent’ degree programmes listed in the Guide (which features 1,200 Master’s degree programmes) were given the highest possible scores for all aspects assessed: course subject matter, lecturers, assessments, atmosphere and preparation for a future career. The list features three Master’s degrees taught by Amsterdam VU University, as well as three taught by the Utrecht-Tilburg business school TIAS, as opposed to one taught by EUR.

Ever since 2020, the Keuzegids Masters has been based solely on student satisfaction rates as gathered through the National Student Survey (NSS). No figures are available regarding the graduation and time-to-degree rates for Master’s degree programmes

No overall scores

“Students’ opinions are very valuable,” stated the editors, “but they do not suffice to issue a verdict on the quality of a degree programme.” Therefore, this edition of the Keuzegids does not contain any university rankings, nor overall scores given to degree programmes.

Until 2020, the Keuzegids did present rankings. At the time, the editors were able to include the verdicts issued on degree programmes by experts, copied from the accreditation reports issued by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). These days, degree programmes are no longer given labels such as ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’; all they get is a ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’.

According to the editors, the newly published ratings cannot even be properly compared with the scores given in previous years, since the NSS questionnaire has been revised. That questionnaire is not drawn up by the editors of the Keuzegids, but rather by the Studiekeuze123 foundation, which manages the survey at the Ministry of Education’s request. Universities, universities of applied sciences and students provide input on the questionnaire.