Affordable Dutch Universities Make Top 100 List In Annual Survey

Expatriates with families including older children will be happy to hear three of the Netherlands’ universities are ranked in the top 100 of the World University Rankings, reckoned as one of the world’s most important education-related surveys.

Delft University of Technology came in on 52nd place, two places higher than in 2017, and is now ranked as the best university in the country. The University of Amsterdam took 57th place overall, one place higher than last year, and also beat Delft University on academic reputation. Eindhoven University of Technology was a new entry to the top 100, moving up five places. It’s not surprising that the three Dutch universities all specialise in technology, as the country is now a haven for talented techies and their start-ups.

As usual, the top ten places were taken by British and American universities, with the exception of Zurich’s Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The survey itself is now on its 15th year as a guide to excellence in further education. Universities are assessed on six metrics, with academic reputation the most important and gaining the most points. Employer reputation, student and faculty reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio and international student ratio are the other sectors.

Academic reputation is crucial and is allocated 40 points after an evaluation via an academic survey of over 80,000 higher education professionals. The Netherlands is fast becoming a major hub for expatriate startups, especially in the tech sector, with many foreign professionals relocating with their families. Given the high cost of a university education in the UK, it’s sensible to assume a good number of British youngsters will be applying to Dutch universities for their degree courses.

For example, average tuition fees at Delft University of Technology are €2,000 a year, with the University of Amsterdam charging just €1,900. Given that accommodation and living costs in the Netherlands aren’t cheap, expat parents from the UK should still have plenty of change from the huge amounts they’d be paying for a comparable British university degree.