In the Keuzegids, which helps prospective students choose a degree programme, various Erasmus University programmes achieved poor scores. Out of the 22 programmes in total, 8 achieved scores below the nationwide average, with four of the programmes scoring the lowest compared to comparable programmes at other universities. According to the guide, only the Bachelor’s degree in Medicine at the EMC and the joint degree in Clinical Technology, which is provided in partnership with Leiden University and TU Delft, ranked among the top degree programmes in the Netherlands.
In the Keuzegids, degree programmes are assessed according to a number of factors. First and foremost, they are assessed according to the number of students who progress to the second year and the number of students who complete their Bachelor’s degree within four years. In addition, the evaluations of the students themselves are taken into account. These evaluations derive from the National Student Survey in which students share their opinion of their programme each year. The guide takes into account the opinions of students on their degree programme, in terms of their content, lecturers, assessment, career preparation and atmosphere. These evaluations are compared with the national average for all Bachelor’s degree programmes. Consideration of the various factors results in a number of points between 0 and 100. The average score of degree programmes in the Netherlands is 60 points, with a degree programme with a score of 75 points being considered a ‘top degree programme’.
Positive outliers
With a score of 80 points, the Clinical Technology programme received the highest rating of all Erasmus University Bachelor’s programmes, putting it in first place in terms of how the university was evaluated. The programme scored very well in terms of the number of students who obtain a diploma after four years. The lecturers and atmosphere of the programme likewise were awarded high scores. The Bachelor’s programme is provided in partnership with Leiden University and TU Delft.
The Medicine programme (75 points), like the Clinical Technology programme, was likewise rated a top degree programme. And yet the programme at the Erasmus Medical Center does not feature in top position in the rankings, rather taking sixth place out of total of eight programmes. The Medicine programmes in the Netherlands were all awarded high scores, however, the students at the EMC rated the quality of assessment at the EMC as below average.
Liberal Arts and Sciences, the degree programme offered by Erasmus University College, similarly performed well, scoring 71 points, yet despite this score the EUC placed tenth out of the eleven University Colleges in the Netherlands. Students were likewise critical of the assessment within the programme.
The History programme achieved a slightly lower score (68 points) in absolute terms, but did well compared to other universities and took second place out of a total of seven. In the case of the History programme, more students successfully obtain their degree after four years than the average number and students were pleased with their lecturers and with the atmosphere at the programme.
ESSB, ESE and ESL perform poorly
The Law and Public Administration programmes, which both scored 43 points, ended up at the bottom of the rankings. Compared to other degree programmes, law students at Erasmus University are less likely to obtain their degree certificate at the end of four years. Tax Law is Erasmus University’s poorest performer, garnering just 38 points. Tax law students rated the content, assessment and atmosphere within the programme as being poor.
The Erasmus University’s Bachelor’s programme in Law has previously received poor ratings from the Keuzegids, with the Law programme previously being the programme with the lowest score in the 2020 guide. Things have improved compared with then, with the programme achieving 43 points this year: nearly double the score it was awarded in 2020 (22 points). The contrast with the Master’s degree in Labour Law, for example, is significant, given that it is one of thirteen Master’s programmes in the Netherlands to be rated ‘excellent’ in the Master’s Keuzegids.
The programmes at the ESSB likewise performed poorly. Erasmus University’s programmes in Pedagogical Sciences (49 points), Psychology (54 points) and Public Administration (43 points) scored the lowest. In the case of both the Pedagogical Sciences and Psychology programmes, students were not impressed with the content of the programmes or with the lecturers and assessment. Public Administration students at EUR rated their programme even lower on these three aspects.
The Economics programmes at Erasmus University similarly did not perform well by comparison. With 50 points, 51 points and 53 points, the Economics, Tax and Economics and Econometrics programmes respectively scored below average. This put the Economics programme in ninth place out of a total of ten programmes in the country. Tax and Economics came second out of a total of two, with Econometrics coming fifth out of six programmes. In the case of all three programmes, the atmosphere within the programmes is rated below average.
