Why, the Netherlands?

ABOUT NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands located mainly in North-West Europe borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime border with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as “Holland”.

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one meter above sea level. Netherlands literally means “(The) Low Countries” or “Low Country”. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low hill ranges in the central parts.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to have an elected parliament. The Netherlands had the tenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2011. The country is host to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and five international courts In May 2011; the Netherlands was ranked as the “happiest” country according to results published by the OECD.

WHY STUDY IN NETHERLANDS ?

Higher education in Holland is known for its high quality and its international study environment. With more than 1,500 international study programmes and courses, it has the largest offer of English-taught programmes in continental Europe. Netherlands has given birth to many Nobel Prize winners in diverse sectors. Although a small country in size, Holland has a big international presence. It is the 21st largest economy in the world. Some of the world’s big multinationals, including Philips, Heineken, KLM, Shell, ING Bank and Unilever, are Dutch. In addition; companies such as Sony, Sara Lee and Microsoft all have their European headquarters in Holland.

Your degree from a Dutch higher education institution and experience of living in Holland will be highly valued. You can improve your career prospects, either in your home country or elsewhere, for a comparatively small cost.

Dutch higher education has a binary system, which means that you can choose between two types of education:

Research-oriented education, offered by research universities;

Higher professional education, offered by universities of applied sciences.

At a research university you will focus more on research-oriented work, which could be either in an academic or in a professional setting. At a university of applied sciences you can choose a professional programme in the applied arts and sciences, to prepare you for a specific career.

INTERNSHIP

Many students do an internship as part of their study programme. Students are allowed to work part time during semesters. Bachelor students have a compulsory year of internship. Here they study the applications of the theory in a practical world. This year long experience sculpts them for work in the real world.