Dutch programme data: how we use it

The list you get is a personal shortlist built from your answers, not a ranking of universities. SKDB data affects its order in three places:

1. Programme match. We look for a programme that fits your field, level and language of instruction by its name, degree and teaching language. A university with a matching programme comes before one that only fits by its general field profile.
2. Price. Non-EU tuition removes universities above the budget you chose. Only if you choose «As affordable as possible» does price also sort the list, lowest first.
3. Catalogue size. When everything above is equal, a university with more programmes in the catalogue comes first. Alphabetical order settles the rest.

The other steps of the order do not use SKDB data.

Some programmes show a student rating from the Nationale Studenten Enquête (national student survey), for example 3.9/5 with the survey year and number of respondents. We show it only when at least 30 students answered, and only as information: it does not sort, filter or hide anything.

Next to a programme we may list occupations. Where LCSK publishes them, they show what graduates do about a year and a half after graduating, with weighted shares among working surveyed graduates whose occupation is known, in each occupation group (ISCO-08). LCSK pools similar programmes across full-time, part-time and dual study, and publishes these figures only when at least 20 working respondents have a known occupation. The list describes that group rather than this programme alone. Combined occupation categories that cannot be assigned to a single group are omitted; the remaining shares are not rescaled. Where LCSK has no figures, we take the programme's field of study (its ISCED-F code) and look it up in ESCO, the European classification of occupations; that list describes the field and carries no shares. Some programmes have neither. Like the rating, occupations are information only and do not affect the order.

Some programmes also show graduates' median salary: the median gross monthly pay 18 months after graduation, as LCSK publishes it from CBS data for the same group of similar programmes. It counts graduates who studied full-time and entered from Dutch secondary or vocational school; graduates with foreign prior education are not included, so the figure describes the Dutch labour market rather than a guaranteed income. Where a range is shown, the lower figure is that starting median and the upper one is the median pay at ages 25–35 (normalised to a 38-hour week, LCSK table iscoberoepen) in the best-paid occupation where at least 5% of these graduates work. It shows where the field can lead, not what you will earn. We add an approximate yearly figure (month × 12). Holiday pay (at least 8% a year by law) and, in many sectors, a 13th month and bonuses under a collective agreement (CAO) come on top; LCSK does not say whether they are in the medians, nor which year the figures describe beyond database version 26.5. Actual pay always depends on your agreement with the employer. Salary does not affect the order.

Language minimums for TOEFL iBT and Cambridge C1 Advanced, and numerus fixus places with the application date, are shown as LCSK publishes them. They do not filter or sort the list; check the full requirements on the university's site.

Nothing in the order is random or based on your browsing. The same answers give the same list. Each programme links to its page on the university's site, where the details are stated first-hand.

Data from Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze has been used

Version SKDB 26.5, academic year 2026-27.