8 Best Universities in the Land of Windmills, Netherlands

The blue continent, Europe is undeniably still a favorite educational destination for many students around the world, including Indonesia. Among the countries on the continent, the Netherlands is one of the countries that many students dream of for educational purposes. The best universities in the Netherlands are able to accommodate students from all over the world. Then, which university has the best title in the country of windmills?

There is no doubt about the quality of education in the Netherlands, an effective learning system has also made this country the destination of many international students. Every year, many students from various countries, especially Indonesia, choose to study in the land of windmills, the Netherlands.

This windmill country is indeed known to have a number of leading universities with qualified quality education. There are many universities scattered in various cities in the Netherlands. Here is a list of the best universities in the Netherlands that could be your educational destination.

  1. Breda University of Applied Sciences

This university was founded in 1966 and offers education in tourism and recreation. This institution is located in the south of the Netherlands, in the city of Breda and hosts more than 7,000 students from more than 50 countries. Breda University of Applied Sciences offers bachelor’s and master’s programs at professional (‘hbo’) and academic (‘wo’) levels in areas such as Media, Hotel, Facilities, Logistics and Entertainment.

The university’s strategy is to dedicate a greater focus on international education, having synergies between various disciplines and cooperation with industrial partners. Every student is encouraged to develop their talents, and develop their ingenuity and creativity.

Drawing on more than half a century of experience in practice-based higher education and international co-op, the undergraduate degree program here has consistently ranked highly on HBO Keuzegids for many years now.

  1. Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences is a business school that seeks to promote excellence in international business and management teaching and learning. The university has a main campus based in Apeldoorn. The campus located in Amsterdam itself enables the university to support international entrepreneurs coming to the Netherlands, with specially designed undergraduate entrepreneurship programs.

Wittenborg strives to provide excellent connections, both in the classroom and outside. This university is not funded by the government, but has been legally recognized by the Dutch Government as an Institution of Higher Education and operates as a non-profit organization.

The programs offered by this university focus on business and hospitality. In the field of business itself, there are several specializations that students can choose from, such as General Management, International Hospitality Management, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Finance, Education and many more. Meanwhile in the hospitality sector, you can choose a specialization in International Hospitality Management and several others.

  1. University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam is located in the Netherlands and is a research university that has been awarded as the best university in the Netherlands. This university is even ranked as the 17th best in Europe and the 56th best in the world.

This university is the third oldest university in the Netherlands and now has around 30,000 students making it the most enrolled university in the Netherlands. Lecture programs are conducted in seven faculties and many of the master’s programs at this university use English instruction.

The University of Amsterdam or often called UvA excels in lectures in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. There are around 150 international academic degrees offered with a total of 3000 international students from 100 countries.

UvA is known as the largest research producing university in Europe. The university also has five museums, one of which is the Rijksmuseum.

  1. University of Twente

Based on data from QS, the University of Twente is ranked 9th for the best university in the Netherlands. This university is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands.

The University of Twente has long been recognized as a university that offers quality masters programs and produces job-ready graduates. There are five faculties with different focuses present in Twente.

The fields of Biomedical and Health Technology, Engineering, European Public Administration, Information Technology, International Business Administration, Science and Technology are the main focuses of the university.

Since 1 January 2020, this university has made English its main language. So, for those of you who are not fluent in Dutch, the University of Twente is the perfect university for you.

  1. Cambridge Education Group (CEG), Amsterdam

Since 1952, CEG has offered high-quality academic programs, providing thousands of students with a valuable step on the way to the top university of their dreams and maximizing their career goals.

Cambridge Education Group ONCAMPUS works together with the University of Amsterdam where students can experience the learning process directly on the campus and experience student life there for themselves.

ONCAMPUS itself is a partnership between a leading university and CEG. The university itself is centered on universities across the UK, Europe and the US.

The program teaches pre-university courses as a first step before entering Bachelors and Masters programs at leading universities in the UK, Europe and the US.

This program is designed for international students who do not meet the requirements for entry into a university course.

  1. Holland International Study Centre

Located in Amsterdam, the Holland International Study Center prepares students to study undergraduate programs at universities across the Netherlands. Here, students will develop their general English and academic skills.

You can choose a destination university when you have completed the program at this institution. There are many programs offered in English. This is one of the reasons why there are 100,000 international students studying at the Holland International Study Center every year.

The Holland International Study Center partners with top universities to offer international students pathways to a range of English-taught degrees. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Tilburg University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are some of the collaborating universities.

  1. Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

TU Delft is the largest and oldest general technical university in the Netherlands. Initially, the university was founded as an academy for civil engineers, partly to train civil servants who would work for the Dutch East India Company.

Various facilities are provided by this university, starting from computer labs, libraries, sports facilities, arts facilities and others. TU Delft is one of the universities that is easily accessible because there are many transportations that can be used to get to this university. In fact, you can reach this university by bicycle for 5 minutes from downtown Delft.

Initially, the university building was in the city center, but now all learning activities are located in Mekelpark, a university environment that is deliberately designed for an educational ecosystem. Of the approximately 17,000 students at the university, a quarter are international students.

  1. Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research is one of the best universities in the world for knowledge-focused science and social sciences.

There are more than 10,000 students taking Bachelor, Postgraduate and professional qualifications and around 20 per cent come from outside the Netherlands. Undergraduate programs are taught partly in Dutch and there are 40 undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs taught in English.

In total, there are 20 different undergraduate programs at the university, including business, international development and health sciences. A total of 29 master’s programs are taught in English and it takes students an average of two years to complete.

Wageningen University & Research has now succeeded in being ranked 3rd for the best university in the Netherlands according to QS.