UTRECHT, The Netherlands, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- www.studychoice.nl

The Netherlands is an increasingly popular study destination for students from around the world who are looking to earn a bachelor's or master's degree. The www.studychoice.nl website provides detailed information on English-taught bachelor's and master's programmes available in the Netherlands. Transparency is an important aspect of the education system in the Netherlands, and that's why the website also allows visitors to compare the quality of the various study programmes.

According to the 2007 THES-QS World University Rankings, there are no less than 11 Dutch universities in the top 200 universities in the world. The list, which appeared in the Times Higher Education Supplement, puts the Netherlands in first place among the countries of mainland Europe.

The new www.studychoice.nl website gives details of 700 English-taught bachelor's and master's programmes in the Netherlands. The site is unique because it allows visitors to compare bachelor's and master's programmes in terms of quality, study pace, student services, as well as student opinions on things like teaching quality and the cost of room rents. The site also provides information on the population size of cities and on the number of students studying there. Website visitors are able to select the criteria which they find important. This makes it the most complete site with information on higher education in the Netherlands. Backed by research, the data is reliable and objective. All listed study programmes are accredited and all higher education institutions have endorsed the Code of Conduct, the national quality mark for international students.

International student numbers on the rise in Holland

After the introduction of the bachelor - master system in the Netherlands, more and more international students are finding study in Holland an attractive option. In 2007, there were 49,750 international students in the Netherlands, an increase compared to 2006. The largest groups of international students come from Germany and China. The bachelor - master system makes it easier for students from other countries to find a suitable study programme. Two-thirds of the master's programmes are now taught in English and therefore attract a lot of interest from outside the Netherlands. The high international standing of Dutch research is also appealing. To make things easier for international students, the immigration procedures they have to follow when coming to the Netherlands were simplified in 2007.

Background

The www.studychoice.nl website is a cooperation of Studiekeuze123 and Nuffic, the Dutch Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education. The representative bodies of the higher education institutions (HBO-Raad, VSNU and PAEPON) and the students' organizations (LSVb and ISO) are jointly responsible for the running of www.studychoice.nl. The project is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and implemented by SURFfoundation (the higher education and research partnership for ICT in the Netherlands).

For further information: Wilma de Buck, Studychoice.nl Programme Manager, T +31-30-234-6600 or +31-6-29157507; Anne van Voorthuizen, Studychoice.nl Project Coordinator, T +31-30-234-6600 or +31-6-22307042 or vanvoorthuizen@surf.nl