Tilburg University best general university
Of all general universities in the Netherlands, overall student satisfaction is highest at Tilburg University. This is shown by the figures of the National Student Survey (NSE) over the year 2016-2017.
Overall student satisfaction on programs (on a scale from 1 to 5) has risen to an average of 4.15 in 2017. This continues the steady rise from 3.92 in 2013, 4.00 in 2014, and 4.09 in 2015 to 4.13 in 2016. In the ranking of all universities (i.e., including the agricultural universities and universities of technology), Tilburg University is third after Wageningen University and Eindhoven University of Technology.
The Executive Board is glad about the results: "For years, Tilburg University students have shown to be very satisfied with the programs we offer. We want to thank them for their confidence and would like to work with them to continually improve the quality of our education program."
The National Student Survey is a large-scale national survey that annually invites students of all the Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences to share their opinions on the programs they are taking. In 2017, a total of 4,415 Tilburg University students completed the NSE (response percentage of 34%). The statements in the survey relate to seventeen main themes.
Scores for the various themes
As regards the theme of internship experience, Tilburg University has achieved the highest average score of all universities. This theme is about the guidance by the internship company and the things the student has learned during the internship. National top 3 rankings further include the themes of content, academic skills acquired, teachers, assessment and grading, study load, and internationalization.
Tilburg University achieved the strongest increase in student satisfaction on career preparation and internship and program (internship supervision by the university). The various initiatives to improve the transfer to the employment market have clearly led to more satisfied students.
New themes in NSE 2017
In 2017, two new themes were added to the NSE questionnaire: internationalisation and pursuit of excellence. Compared to the competition, Tilburg University has scored quite well on these items (third for internationalisation and fourth for pursuit of excellence).
Use of the NSE results
The results of the NSE are used by Tilburg University every year to analyse individual programs and its service level to students. The implementation of subsequent improvements has led to increased quality of education for several years in a row.
External parties like CHOI (Keuzegids Hoger Onderwijs) and Elsevier (Elsevier Beste Studies) use the results as input for their annual rankings of best Bachelor’s and Master’s programs.
NOTE TO EDITORS
More information on the NSE is available at www.nse.nl (in Dutch). If you have any questions, please contact spokesperson Tineke Bennema at persvoorlichters@tilburguniversity.edu or phone: 06 – 1967 8521.