Maastricht University - Academic Life

Academic Life

The Maastricht University student body is still composed primarily of students from the Netherlands, but UM has a sizable number of international students. Of the 13,117 registered students in 2008, 39% were of a foreign nationality. This number has increased to 43% as of 2009. Most foreign students are from European Union member states: 4,794 students, or 37% of the total student body. Other, non-EU foreign students, amounting to less than 2% of the total number of UM students, came from various countries in Europe (91), Asia (129), Africa (45), North America (33), Central and South America (15), and Oceania (29). These numbers have increased. As of 2012: Non-EU (142), Asia (187), Africa (52), North America (39), Central and South America (42). The university attracts a significant number of German students, especially in its economic, European Studies and psychology programmes. About 800 students annually choose Maastricht as their study abroad destination, while about 1,400 Maastricht students spend one or more semesters at a foreign university each year. Some 70 nationalities are currently represented at UM.

Maastricht University's academic staff, which has been growing over the past years, consists of about 1,900 members with a male/female ratio of 54/46. The number of support staff members amounts to 1,600, of which about 62% is female. Nearly 20% of UM's staff members hold a foreign nationality. About 12% of professors at Maastricht University are women. Regarding the number of female professors, the university ranks lower than comparable universities in the Netherlands even though the number has been on the increase over the past years.

Like most other Dutch universities, UM itself does not provide regular student housing. However, the university participates in a student housing foundation, offering mediation services to students. About 2,700 rooms and apartments offered through the Maastricht student housing foundation are provided by local housing associations Woonpunt, Servatius and Maasvallei. Some 8,000 other accommodations are provided by private landlords. Most units are located in houses or small apartment complexes across the historic city centre or in its immediate surrounding neighbourhoods. Many foreign exchange students live at the UM Guesthouse in Annadal, which provides short-term housing. Student accommodations are usually rented out unfurnished, but the number of furnished rooms is growing to meet the demands of the increasing number of international master's students in Maastricht.

The university's independent newspaper, Observant, is published on a weekly basis and distributed throughout the university. It provides news, background articles, columns and educational information in Dutch and English, directed primarily at the university community. Studium Generale, the university's cultural office, organizes lectures and cultural activities for members of the university community and the general public.