In theory, the bachelor’s degrees from universities and universities of applied sciences (UAS, or hbo or hogeschool in Dutch) are equally valued. However, this is not the case in practice, as observed by the Education Inspectorate. With a certificate from a university of applied sciences, one cannot enter every university master’s programme.
Inaccessible master’s programmes
A quarter of master’s programmes do not accept graduates from universities of applied sciences, even after a premaster in which they enhance their foundational knowledge and academic skills. In discussions with the inspectorate, programme directors and other university representatives indicate that they view these graduates as a threat to both success rates and quality, as revealed in last month’s report Hbo’ers gelijkgeschakeld.
At Erasmus University, currently 14 out of 52 master’s programmes are inaccessible to UAS graduates, including six regular master’s and eight research master’s programmes. Many of these programmes are offered at Erasmus MC, such as Medicine, Nanobiology, and the research master’s Genomics in Society. However, students with a UAS bachelor’s degree are also not welcome in the research master’s programmes in Philosophy, Media Studies, and Business Data Studies or in the regular master’s programmes in Criminology and Tax Law.
Lack of academic skills
Programs often cite the requirement of academic skills that cannot be acquired in a sixty-credit bridging programme as their reason for exclusion. One programme director tells the Education Inspectorate that some UAS graduates ‘have a particularly small chance of success because they struggle with the level’. The risk exists, says another, that due to these students, ‘the bar has to be lowered’. In the report, lack of academic skills is the argument for all EUR master’s programmes that are not accessible, except for one.
Especially for research master’s programmes, a pre-master is often not sufficient to gain the necessary research skills. But there are more reasons, as revealed by inquiries from EM.
For instance, there is not always a programme in the same field at universities of applied sciences. Or a particular master’s programme requires more technical or medical knowledge or skills. “We want to facilitate and secure accessibility of university master’s programmes for UAS graduates as much as possible”, says rector magnificus Jantine Schuit. “But in some cases, the nature of a programme requires more than what can be offered in a one-year bridging programme or pre-master. Think for example of Medicine.”
Sometimes practical or financial considerations also play a role. For example, with ‘a very limited intake from universities of applied sciences, it is financially unfeasible to offer a separate route to catch up on any deficiencies’.
Majority is accessible
Schuit believes that the university has a broad range of master’s programmes available for students with a UAS diploma. “The majority is accessible. If we exclude the medical master’s programmes, which are not open to UAS graduates, only eight programmes from our entire master’s portfolio are inaccessible. And even among the medical programmes, two research master’s are accessible to them.”
One of the recommendations from the Inspectorate is to reassess admission criteria: is it necessary for some master’s programmes to exclude all UAS graduates? Admission and selection are areas of focus in the university’s ‘Access & Equity’ policy. “In the past year, we conducted a thorough evaluation of the assessment and selection procedures for our programmes with selection. These procedures will be revised where necessary this year in light of equal opportunities.”
Unclear law
Officially, master’s programmes must be accessible to everyone with a bachelor’s degree. While master’s programmes may set requirements for entry, they cannot ‘exclude entire groups based on prior education’, says the Inspectorate. But in practice, this does happen.
Part of this is due to the law being unclear. It states that universities may refuse students if they cannot raise the knowledge and skills of an applicant within a ‘reasonable time frame’.
Additionally, the inspectorate points out that it is unclear whether an inaccessible master’s programme is necessarily a problem. Do all master’s programmes need to provide UAS graduates with the opportunity to be admitted? Or do all UAS graduates need to have the chance to pursue a university master’s?
Right place
Rector magnificus Schuit believes it is important for the right student to end up in the right place. “In addition, we must be able to guarantee the quality of the master’s programme and its alignment with the job market. This means that some programmes must be more selective, which should not be a problem.”
“We also see that universities of applied sciences are increasingly developing their own master’s programmes, allowing UAS graduates to further specialise and develop their skills within the professional education sector”, Schuit continues. “This also increases the opportunities for them to pursue a master’s programme, which I consider a positive development.”
The inspectorate has requested clarification from the minister. Education Minister Eppo Bruins has stated that he will respond to the research before the summer.
