{"id":2997,"date":"2016-07-11T12:50:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T10:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/07\/11\/duizenden-zomerstudenten-naar-nederland\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:10","slug":"duizenden-zomerstudenten-naar-nederland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/07\/11\/duizenden-zomerstudenten-naar-nederland\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of summer school students heading for the Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While half the Dutch population is going on holiday, Dutch universities will be opening their gates to thousands of students and scientists from far-away places who will be coming to the Netherlands to attend summer schools.<\/p>\n

This year, Utrecht\u2019s Summer School is attracting more than 3,500 students, who will be taking courses in subjects ranging from law to physics and from art to statistics. \u201cWe have Europe\u2019s largest summer school,\u201d said its founder, Jeroen Torenbeek. Students will be able to take their pick from no fewer than 240 courses. The majority of these will be taught by Utrecht University, but Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and HKU University of the Arts will also teach a few.<\/p>\n

Rotterdam Summer School<\/h3>

Utrecht first offered summer school courses in 1987. Its example has been followed by many other universities in recent years. Summer schools are hip and happening. Erasmus Medical Centre has been offering summer courses for years. This year, Erasmus University, in association with Rotterdam\u2019s universities of applied sciences, will also be teaching courses, such as Creative Writing, Effective Leadership and Communication, and Trans-Atlantic Realities in the 21st<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\n

Summer schools bring in some money for the universities. If it weren\u2019t for summer school students, rooms normally used by exchange students would remain vacant during the summer months. Many universities feel that it is better to rent out these rooms to course attendees, thus earning a little rent money. Fees range from a few hundreds of euros per week to several thousands of euros for longer courses, depending on the course subject as well.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018We see some summer school attendees coming back as Master\u2019s students\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

However, summer schools are not cash cows. They are mainly a way to share one\u2019s love for a particular subject with others and to recruit talent. \u201cIn Maastricht, we saw that some summer school attendees went on to become Master\u2019s students,\u201d said Krijnen. \u201cWe also got this one person who wanted to do his PhD here. I introduced him to a professor. They went and had some coffee together, and a year later, he was working with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experience<\/h3>

To some students, summer schools are not just interesting, but efficient and cheap. \u201cSometimes they don\u2019t have the means to study abroad for a whole semester,\u201d said Eva Janssen of Amsterdam VU University\u2019s Summer School. \u201cThis will allow them to gain some international experience, after all. And for American students summer school can be a useful way to complete their expensive degrees more quickly.\u201d Because obviously, students will be awarded credits for any summer school courses they take.<\/p>\n

About 200 people signed up for Rotterdam Summer School. Not a bad score for this first trial year, said Ad Hofstede, the Managing Director of the Erasmus Academy and the trailblazer for Rotterdam Summer School. Unfortunately, many of these 200 people will not show up. Approximately 50 attendees have so far paid their fees. \u201cWe are considering 2016 a learning experience,\u201d said Hofstede. \u201cNext year we will do certain things differently. For instance, we will announce the programme earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lees meer over summer schools<\/h2>