Dutch universities are supported by state funding (with the exception of University Nyenrode) so that universities do not have to rely on private funding to facilitate tuition. All citizens of the Netherlands who complete high school at the pre-academic level (vwo) or have a professional bachelor's degree at hbo level are eligible to attend university. Special programs exist to make it possible for college students to enter a university as well. Three universities (Leiden, Utrecht and Groningen) have restrictive requirements based on academic ability; and all universities have restrictive requirements for some of their programs because the number of prospective students sometimes outnumbers the number of available places.
Many Dutch students attend universities relatively far from their parental homes (in contrast to Universities in Italy and Spain for example), although scarcity of accommodation sometimes forces students to commute. As a compensation for this, Dutch students normally receive a card (OV-kaart) that allows them to use public transport for free during one part of the week and with a discount during the other part. Waiting lists for student accommodation in the Netherlands can be more than a year, particularly in Utrecht and Amsterdam.
Quality differences between Dutch universities are generally small and the best university in one subject can be the worst in another. This is one of the reasons why none of them tend to end in the top tier of international university ranking systems. All of them, however, score well above average.
Dutch universities used to offer only 4 or 5 year courses. Since 2002 most of them now offer 3 year undergraduate programmes, leading towards a bachelor's degree, and 1 or 2 years Master's programmes. Old habits remain, however, and a large majority of university students enroll on master's courses. To confuse matters, students attending polytechnics (colleges of higher professional education) also obtain a bachelor's degree, only the programmes in these institutes usually take 4 years.
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“‘Tis probable Religion after this
Came next in order; which they could not miss.
How could the Dutch but be converted, when
The Apostles were so many fishermen?
Besides the waters of themselves did rise,
And, as their land, so them did re-baptize.”
—Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)
“... though mathematics may teach a man how to build a bridge, it is what the Scotch Universities call the humanities, that teach him to be civil and sweet-tempered.”
—Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919)