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Universiteit Maastricht

Universiteit Maastricht is the youngest university in the Netherlands: it started with a Faculty of Medicine in 1974 and was officially founded in 1976. Various other faculties in the 1980s and 1990s followed. At present, Universiteit Maastricht has over 11.000 students in seven faculties: Medicine, Law, Economics and Business Administration, Arts and Culture, Health Sciences, Psychology and General Sciences.

Two Schools are part of Universiteit Maastricht. In 2002 Universiteit Maastricht launched an American style Liberal Arts College, University College Maastricht. In 2005, Universiteit Maastricht started the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance.  

The city of Maastricht hosts a number of European institutions with whom the university has close connections. Most notably are the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA) and the European Journalism Centre (EJC). 

In September 2002 the university converted its programmes into a Bachelor – Master structure; since then Universiteit Maastricht offers over 40 bachelor, master and PhD programmes (master programmes to be started in September 2003, 2004 or 2005). These degree programmes are fully accredited by the Dutch Validation Council. 

Two features characterize Universiteit Maastricht: innovative and international. Universiteit Maastricht is innovative in education and Universiteit Maastricht is an international university. A number of programs are offered in English and Universiteit Maastricht has attracted both students and staff members from a variety of countries. In addition, within Universiteit Maastricht there exist a large number of exchange partners: the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration exchanges students with about 150 partners all over the world. 

Problem-Based Learning

Studying in Maastricht is different. All curricula are organised according to the innovative, educational approach of 'Problem-Based Learning' (PBL). It is based on a revised view of how graduates function at the workplace and how students learn to keep their knowledge up-to-date, how students learn to solve problems and experience the role of teamwork. The pedagogical design is based on the idea that collaborative learning in interaction with problem-centred learning environments gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic interests. In 2003, the Dutch Ministry of Education put forward the PBL approach at Universiteit Maastricht as best practice in the discussions within the EU about learning competencies in higher education towards a European knowledge society.  

Over time, Universiteit Maastricht has incorporated additional methods and tools into teaching. The university introduced Blackboard electronic learning environment, integrating technology with the problem-based learning environment. In 2002 the computer company Blackboard awarded Universiteit Maastricht with the Academic Innovation Award for the development of Polaris. Polaris gives students the possibility to collaborate intensively on the web. Maastricht is partner in the E-merge consortium (together with the universities of Leiden, Delft and three Dutch universities of vocational training, the so-called ‘hogescholen’) to implement a digital learning environment. By introducing new elements to PBL, Universiteit Maastricht develops a dynamic education profile, which will enable the university to adequately respond to the changing needs of society.

International perspective

Another feature of Universiteit Maastricht is the international perspective on teaching and learning. Since the early 1990s, Universiteit Maastricht attracts students from all over the world, from bachelor students to master students and PhD students. Almost 40% of the incoming students originate from over 40 countries. An increasing number of bachelor programmes and almost all master and PhD programmes are offered in English, most of them including a European or an international focus in the programme itself and/or including study abroad periods. Universiteit Maastricht keeps up relations and co-operates with over 100 partners in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and the Far East. To improve the language skills of the students (and staff), Universiteit Maastricht has a language centre. In addition, international networks (f.e. focussing on educational innovation in Economics and Business Administration, and educational innovation in Medicine) have been set up.  

The programmes, the pedagogic approach with its focus on innovating learning processes, the international character of the programmes and the facilities are highly valued by students, peers and employers. Universiteit Maastricht belongs to the top of the Dutch universities and seeks international accreditation by professional and academic bodies. The programmes of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration are already accredited by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System). 

Universiteit Maastricht is located in a cross-border region, encompassing parts of three countries (Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands). This Euregion Maas-Rhine hosts a dense network of universities and other institutions of higher education. In the early 90s, the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Université de Liège, Limburgs Universitair Centrum in Hasselt/Diepenbeek and Universiteit Maastricht decided to co-operate. The main objective of this ALMA co-operation is the development of a broad intensive academic co-operation. Two of the partners, Maastricht and Diepenbeek, took the initiative to co-operate in Life Sciences and Knowledge Engineering and gave birth to the trans-national university named tUL.

Hosting Faculty

Universiteit Maastricht’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration is consistently ranked amongst the top in both the Netherlands and Europe for the excellence of its academic education and research in the fields of economics, business, management and finance. The faculty provides high quality education and conducts excellent research, both with a distinctly international perspective. It offers six bachelor’s programmes and eight master’s programmes, and with the exception of Fiscal Economics these are all taught entirely in English. The Faculty is counted amongst the select group of around 40 business schools worldwide to have received both accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the European Foundation for Management Development’s EQUIS quality label. 

In the academic year 2005-2006, 3.500 students participated in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration programmes, 48% of which had a foreign background. We welcomed 467 exchange students from abroad (over 40 different nationalities). 583 Bachelor students spent a semester abroad at one of our 149 partner universities in 39 countries worldwide. Moreover, of the 320 FEBA staff members 34% of the academic staff is non-Dutch and 8% of the administrative staff has a foreign nationality. 

Research in FEBA is to a large extent concentrated in the Faculty’s Research school “METEOR”, the first graduate school in Business and Economics in the Netherlands that received its recognition from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW, 1992). Within METEOR we have a.o. developed  research programmes in the field of Human Resources Management (in a broad sense, including labour economics), behavioural economics and macroeconomic policy. In addition, the department of economics participates in the Maastricht School of Governance, the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) and UNU/MERIT (United Nations University/Maastricht Economic Reaserch Centre on Innovation and Technology).