The Best Dutch Universities (State, Applied & Research)
Source: www.keuzegids.org
How the Dutch university Ranking works:
Imagine a student wants to choose a degree program but is unsure about a specific course in a particular city. Suppose you know a student from that city. What would you do? You would call them and ask if they like the course!
In fact, the “Keuzegids” guide does exactly the same thing. The difference is that it doesn’t ask just one student, but uses responses from nearly 300,000 college and university students through the National Student Survey. They tell us what they think about the education, the teachers, the facilities, and much more.
Probability of graduation
In addition, the “Keuzegids” investigates the number of students who drop out of courses early. Because what good is a quality education if you don’t complete it? To do this, it uses data from Dutch universities and the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences on study success.
Employment
Do you want to know if a specific degree leads to a good job and an attractive salary? We want to know that too! That’s why the “Keuzegids” guide relies on the knowledge and insights of the research agency ROA, which maps the graduate labor market.
All of this results in an annual ranking for state universities!
Categories
A. Applied Universities (A1. large & A2. medium-sized)
B. Research Universities (B1. general with a broad offer & B2. polytechnics or specialized universities)
A. Applied Universities (HBO)* 2026
(A1) Large-sized:
- Zuyd University (Maastricht)
- Avans University (Breda & Den Bosch)
- Windesheim University (Zwolle)
(A2) Medium-sized:
- HZ University (Vlissingen & Middelburg)
- HAS Green Academy (Den Bosch)
- Breda University (BUAS)
B. Research Universities (WO) 2026*
There is a separate ranking for applied universities.
(B1) TOP 3 – Dutch Research Universities (WO) with a broad offer
Among universities with a broad offer (6 in total; outside the top 3 are UvA, VU & Leiden):
- Utrecht University
- RUG, Groningen University
- Radboud University, Nijmegen
(B2) TOP 3 – Universities with a more specific offer, such as polytechnics
- Wageningen University
- University of Twente, Enschede
- Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Among technical universities with the same type of offer, Twente ranks first in the Dutch ranking, ahead of Eindhoven (TU/e) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
Other Goingdutch articles based on Dutch rankings:
- The best International business programs (Applied)
- Why (& where) to study Engineering in the Netherlands?
*With English-taught degree programs accessible to international students
