Five University of Twente master’s programmes have been granted the seal “Top rated programme” in the 2017 edition of the Keuzegids Masters (Master’s Selection Guide), published on 28 February.
That is two more than in 2016. The programmes involved are Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering, Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, Sustainable Energy Technology and Technical Medicine.
For Applied Physics and Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, this is an extension of the status of “Top rated programme”. For the other three programmes, the recognition is new compared to last year. Electrical Engineering lost the status of “Top rated programme”, but retains nevertheless the highest score among all comparable programmes in the Netherlands.
Opinion of students and experts
The Keuzegids Masters is compiled annually on the basis of quality assessments by students in the Nationale Studenten Enquête (National Student Survey) and by experts of the inspection authority NVAO (Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders). Aspects such as the experienced quality of the teachers, the number of contact hours, the facilities and the quality of the programme and the graduates are taken into account. The quality of the facilities as well as the communication are mentioned as strong points of the university by UT students. There is room for improvement in the number of contact hours, which students are less satisfied with.
Programmes receive a score on a scale of 20 to 100. All programmes which score higher than 76 points are awarded the “Top-class programme” seal. Geo-information Science and Earth Observation received a score of no less than 82, six points more than last year, and thereby attained the highest score of all UT programmes. It is followed by Applied Physics (80 points), Technical Medicine and Chemical Engineering (both 78) and Sustainable Energy Technology (76).
Overall score
The 61-point average score that the various master’s programmes received ranks in tenth position out of the sixteen universities in the Netherlands. This is a slight decrease with respect to last year, in which the UT shared the seventh place with 62 points. Nineteen programmes improved with respect to last year, as opposed to five programmes which showed a downward tendency and three which received the same number of points as in 2016.
Five times 'Top rated programme', a reason to celebrate. Rector Magnificus Thom Palstra cuts the cake.
Thom Palstra, Rector Magnificus of the University of Twente: “I am proud of the fact that 12 of the 27 master’s programmes score highest in their category and that the majority of the programmes have improved. That shows that we have a strong base and is a recognition for the way in which we are committed to the improvement of our education. There is always room for improvement. We will take a good look together at where that room for improvement is and will be heavily influenced by the opinions of the students and the professionals.”
The programme Business Information Technology experienced a spectacular increase of no less than 16 points this year, as a result of which it now scores 70 points. Industrial Engineering and Management also experienced a large increase, of 14 points, to 74. Electrical Engineering, the programme with the highest score of the UT last year, 82 points, received 68 this year, and Psychology (from 58 to 48) also experienced a relatively large decrease in the assessment.
