10 Best Dutch Universities
Here are the ten best universities in the Netherlands based on five different ranking reports of the top schools of higher education around the world.
To come up with our list, we averaged the global rank given to each school by five different organizations: THE (Times Higher Education), QS (Top Universities), US News & World Report (Best Global Universities), CWUR (Center for World University Rankings) and ARWU (Academic Rankings of World Universities).
The chart below shows how each organization ranked each Dutch university in their world rankings and (in brackets) what the corresponding Netherlands ranking is for each school.
We then took the average global ranking of each school (column 7) to get our ranking of the ten best universities in Netherlands (column 8) .
NOTE: Since ARWU only provides ranges to universities ranked outside their top 100 (i.e. 101-150, 151-200, 201-300), we assigned the mid-point to schools in these blocks in order to calculate the average (i.e. schools in the 101-150 block were assigned a rank of 125, schools in the 151-200 block were assigned a rank of 175, and schools in the 201-300 block were assigned a rank of 250).
TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES IN NETHERLANDS
| DUTCH UNIVERSITY | THE | QS | US NEWS | CWUR | ARWU | AVG | RANK |
| Utrecht University | 66[3] | 107[3] | 44[2] | 72[1] | 52[1] | 68.2 | 1 |
| University of Amsterdam | 60[2] | 53[2] | 39[1] | 80[2] | 101-150[4] | 71.4 | 2 |
| University of Groningen | 75[5] | 139[7] | 88[6] | 106[5] | 76[2] | 96.8 | 3 |
| Leiden University | 77[6] | 126[6] | 74[4] | 88[3] | 101-150[4] | 98.0 | 4 |
| Erasmus University Rotterdam | 80[7] | 176[9] | 65[3] | 94[4] | 88[3] | 100.6 | 5 |
| Wageningen University & Research Center | 59[1] | 151[8] | 89[7] | 181[8] | 151-200[7] | 131.0 | 6 |
| Delft University of Technology | 70[4] | 47[1] | 169[9] | 263[10] | 151-200[7] | 144.8 | 7 |
| Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | 121[8] | 207[10] | 82[5] | 148[6] | 151-200[7] | 146.6 | 8 |
| Radboud University Nijmegen | 139[9] | 222[12] | 106[8] | 161[7] | 101-150[4] | 150.6 | 9 |
| Maastricht University | 145[10] | 256[13] | 186[10] | 258[9] | 201-300[10] | 219.0 | 10 |
Also noteworthy, two Dutch universities were cited in Reuter’s ranking of the ‘top 100 most innovative universities in the world’ – Delft University of Technology (#62) and Leiden University (#77).
For expats or foreign students looking to study in the Netherlands, here is information about the degree programs taught in English that are offered by each of the above schools…
#1 Utrecht University – 12 Nobel Prize recipients have graduated from Utrecht University. The school currently offers 12 Bachelor degree programs and 98 Master degree programs taught in English.
#2 University of Amsterdam – The Netherlands’ largest university with over 32,000 registered students. UofA currently offers over 20 Bachelor degree programs and more than 180 full-time Master degree programs taught in English.
#3 University of Groningen – This Dutch university in the north of the country was established over 400 years ago (1614). The school offers over 35 Bachelor degree programs and over 130 Master degree programs taught in English.
#4 Leiden University – The oldest university in Netherlands (founded in 1575) and one of the oldest in Europe. It currently offers 14 Bachelor degree programs and nearly 80 Master degree programs taught in English.
#5 Erasmus University Rotterdam – Located in the second largest Dutch city, Erasmus University currently offers 15 Bachelor degree programs and 86 Master degree programs taught in English. The university’s Rotterdam School of Management is ranked within the top ten of MBA schools in Europe.
#6 Wageningen University & Research Center – This Dutch school of higher education is located near the city of Arnhem in the central part of the Netherlands. It specializes in life sciences and currently offers 6 Bachelor degree programs and 37 Master degree programs taught in English.
#7 Delft University of Technology – Located near The Hague, TU Delft is at the forefront of technical research and engineering. The school has over 23,000 students, split almost evenly between graduates and under-graduates. It currently offers 16 Bachelor degree programs and 35 Master degree programs taught in English.
#8 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – Founded in 1880, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is located in the city’s business district. The school currently offers 29 Bachelor degree programs and 151 Master degree programs taught in English.
#9 Radboud University Nijmegen – This Dutch university located in the east of the country near the German border currently offers 14 Bachelor degree programs and 119 Master degree programs taught in English.
#10 Maastricht University – Located in the country’s southern most major city (close to both Belgium and Germany), the university currently offers 22 Bachelor degree programs and 46 Master degree programs taught in English.
Related information…