Wageningen again and again rated best university of the Netherlands

The 2019 Guide to Higher Education is a resource for selecting the right study programme ahead of time and it is released annually. Each of the 13 degree programmes with the Top Programme designation received more than 75 points. Hundreds of programmes across the country were assessed, 69 of which received the “Top Programme” honour. All Wageningen study programmes scored at least 70 points. The lowest-scoring Wageningen programme still did well when compared to similar programmes provided elsewhere, enough so that the Guide to Higher Education frequently lists them as “recommended”. The Plant Sciences degree programme even earned itself the national top score of 98 points. Forest and Nature Management took second place with 94 points. Molecular Life Sciences scored exceptionally high as well.

WUR recorded 1738 first-year students, which is once again a greater number than the year before. In spite of student numbers growing annually, Wageningen continues to be “very highly regarded among students” according to the Guide to Higher Education. The guide authors wrote things such as “Wageningen University is still the undisputed winner” and “The students don’t feel like statistics”.

Rector Arthur Mol is pleased to maintain the quality while student numbers are continuously increasing: "Here we see the great merits of the teachers and the staff who contribute to the constant educational innovation, such as study facilities."

The scores reported by the guide pertain to various aspects of the study programmes, such as the study feasibility, study facilities, contact hours, focus on practice, or the quality of lecturers. The 2019 Guide to Higher Education is based on a number of sources, including select questions from the National Student Survey (NSE), the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (Vereniging Hogescholen) (study success), the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (labour market), and the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) (accreditations).

Keuzegids Universiteiten 2019. F. Steenkamp, L. de Adelhart Toorop, J. van Pelt. Leiden, C.H.O.I., november 2018. 232 p. ISBN: 978-9087610746.