In the latest edition of the Keuzegids, a Dutch publication on the quality of university programmes, three bachelor programmes of the University of Twente have been awarded the ‘Top rated programme’ seal. The Keuzegids 2017 was published today.
Applied Physics (82 points), Chemical Engineering (78) and University College Twente (ATLAS, 78) all received a score of 76 points or higher, the score needed for receiving the ‘Top rated programme’ (Topopleiding in Dutch) seal. Overall, the University of Twente scored an average of 60 points, taking the UT to place eight on the ranking of (14) Dutch universities.
Fifth consecutive seal
Applied Physics and Chemical Engineering have proven to be a regular in the top rankings of Dutch bachelor programmes over a longer period of time, as both received the seal for the fifth time in a row. University College Twente, the liberal arts and sciences programme of the UT, received its second consecutive award.
Upward trend
For the second year in a row, the University of Twente improves its position. On average, the 20 bachelor programmes of the UT scored 60 points, 2.5 points more than in the Keuzegids 2016. The year before, the UT improved its score by one. Twelve of the twenty bachelor programmes at the UT received a higher score than the year before and eight programmes rank top in their category. Remarkable is the improvement of the bachelor programmes of Health Sciences and European Public Administration. They improved their score by 14 and 10 points respectively.
Compared to the other technical universities in the Netherlands, the University of Twente moved to a third spot. Wageningen is still ranked top with an impressive 74.5 points, TU/Eindhoven scores 64 points, just before the University of Twente and TU Delft (57 points).
Students at the University of Twente experience a relatively high workload compared to other universities. However, only few students drop out in their first year and students are satisfied with the frequency of contact with teaching staff and the facilities on campus. Also experts give a positive judgement on the UT.
Ambitions
Thom Palstra, who will be appointed as the new rector at the UT at the end of November, hopes to see the upward trend to extend, as he, the deans and the programme directors will continue to make improvements to the educational programmes. “The students of the UT appreciate their educational programmes, given the scores. We are pleased with that. The Twente Educational Model, that has been introduced by my predecessor, is a model which we can be proud of. I hope we will see the results of the implementation in future results of surveys like the Keuzegids. We are fully aware that students at the UT experience a high workload. We do communicate with students and will keep doing that in the future to find out how the workload is perceived and which ways can be successful to reduce the experienced workload. Receiving a ‘top rated programme’ seal for all bachelor programmes at the UT seems like a great ambition to strive for."
About Keuzegids
De Keuzegids Universiteiten is an annual publication of the Center for Higher Education Information (CHOI in Dutch), in which comparative information is offered on the bachelor programmes offered at the universities in te Netherlands. They focus on various areas such as selection criteria, educational quality and job opportunities after a degree. The CHOI bases its findings on the National Student Survey, which is held annually and also takes into account the results of the national visitation panels of the NVAO, the national accreditation organization.
