Nine top degree programmes, best traditional, general university

Nine University of Groningen Bachelor’s degree programmes have been awarded the ‘Top Degree Programme’ quality label in this year’s Keuzegids Universiteiten (Guide to Dutch Universities). In the list of Best Universities, the University of Groningen is in joint first place in the category ‘Traditional General Universities’.

The assessment of the University of Groningen in the Keuzegids included the following statement: ‘In recent years the UG has been receiving better assessments on average than the universities in the Randstad region in the west of the country. A slightly higher percentage of Groningen students evaluate their programmes as challenging and well organized than elsewhere. According to the Keuzegids, among the traditional, general universities, ‘…. only Groningen and Nijmegen exceed average scores for more than one degree programme.’

Nine top programmes

The Keuzegids Universiteiten 2017 awards the Top Degree Programme label to programmes that score at least 76 points. A national total of 58 degree programmes were awarded this label, including nine University of Groningen programmes. The nine Bachelor’s degree programmes at the UG that are at the top of Dutch university education according to this standard are Archaeology (88 points), Astronomy (78), Chemical Engineering (80), Econometrics and Operations Research (78), Liberal Arts and Sciences (88), Minorities & Multilingualism (88), Philosophy (82), Religious Studies (76) and Theology (78). N.B. Archaeology, Theology and Philosophy have each held the Top Degree Programme label for five years in a row. (Nationally, this only applies to 20 degree programmes.)

Fifteen UG programmes best in category

A degree programme can also be the best in its category without achieving the Top Degree Programme predicate. The following fifteen UG programmes were declared the best in their respective categories: Archaeology, Art History, Astronomy, Dutch Language and Culture, Econometrics and Operations Research, English Language and Culture, Human Movement Sciences, Law at the Leeuwarden campus, Life Science and Technology, Media Studies, Minorities & Multilingualism, Pharmacy, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Sociology.

The Keuzegids Universiteiten is published annually by the Centre for Higher Education Information (CHOI; Centrum Hoger Onderwijs Informatie) and is intended for secondary school pupils and counsellors who want to find out more about university Bachelor’s degree programmes. The assessments in the Guide are based on student evaluations (National Student Survey), the national degree programme choice database Studiekeuze123 and NVAO visitation reports. There is a separate Guide for Master’s degree programmes.

More information

• Gernant Deekens, University spokesman, tel. (+31) (0)50 363 6854 or (+31) (0)6 2900 6966, e-mail: g.e.deekens@rug.nl
• Keuzegids Universiteiten 2017 [Guide to Dutch Universities], published by the Centre for Higher Education Information (CHOI; Centrum Hoger Onderwijs Informatie).