{"id":197336,"date":"2026-04-16T14:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=197336"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:58:35","slug":"studiesucces-door-bindend-studieadvies-op-losse-schroeven-maar-eur-houdt-vast-aan-nominaalnormaal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2026\/04\/16\/studiesucces-door-bindend-studieadvies-op-losse-schroeven-maar-eur-houdt-vast-aan-nominaalnormaal\/","title":{"rendered":"Study success through binding study advice on shaky ground, but EUR holds on to Nominal=Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The binding study advice (BSA) doesn\u2019t contribute to study success, a large national study shows. Researcher Rob Kickert is critical of the pedagogical effects of the measure. The university takes the findings seriously, but for now will not abolish the BSA of sixty credits in the first year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An investigation<\/a> by VU PhD candidate Sander de Vries among 700,000 bachelor’s students concludes that the bsa \u2013 the rule that you must leave your programme if you have too few credits after the first year \u2013 is not an effective means of improving study success. It has negative effects rather than positive ones: it increases first\u2011year dropouts and does not shorten the duration of study. Around half of the students who are forced to stop because of the BSA would probably have completed their programme without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also has no positive effect on graduation rates. On the contrary: in total 1.7 percent fewer students obtain a diploma. The research is based on Statistics Netherlands (CBS) data from the period 1994 to 2014. The National Student Union sees the results as confirmation that the BSA mainly causes stress. As far as they are concerned, the BSA should be scrapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal study and evaluation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Erasmus University regards the research as valuable and is using it as a reason for internal study and evaluation, says policy adviser Aida Tunovi\u0107 of Academic Affairs. Within her department, but also in faculties, they are looking at what the findings mean for current policy. “We welcome this kind of research because it helps us enrich and test our policy”, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time she adds an important caveat: the data De Vries uses runs up to 2014, the very year the university fully implemented the ‘nominal is normal’ policy. That makes it difficult, according to Tunovi\u0107, to apply the conclusions to the situation at EUR. “For the time being we want to study the findings further. Not only this research, but also, for example, that of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. Several universities of applied sciences have dropped or adjusted the BSA and we are curious about the effect of that.” Whether this will lead to policy changes is too early to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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Een lijst met artikelen<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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