Education Minister Jet Bussemaker wants to place more precise restrictions on the use of the terms ‘universiteit’and ‘hogeschool’, so that it will be perfectly clear by law which institutions are allowed to carry those titles.

She also intends to record the official English translations of the terms: university for an ‘universiteit’ and university of applied sciences for a ‘hogeschool’. However, several political parties are concerned whether these translations would work.

Ambiguity
De addition of ‘of applied sciences’ could cause confusion abroad, the PvdA claimed in a written question session about the proposed bill. The party wants to know the Education Minister’s opinion on what result the bill will have for the  competitive position” of those ‘hogescholen’ who are forbidden from using the term university.

The CDA agrees. The party fears that foreign students will be “unintentionally deceived” if a ‘hogeschool’ were to call itself a university of applied sciences. The Dutch system is unique: in most foreign countries, all institutions of higher education are known as universities, even those which provide the same kind and level of education as the Dutch ‘hogescholen’ do.
The VVD has also expressed concern. The party wonders why the Education Minister wants to get involved in the English names that Dutch institutions use in the first place.

“Such a shame”
Last week, the president of the Breda University of Applied Sciences (hogeschool NHTV), Hein van Oorschot, raised objections to the proposed bill for the same reasons. “Most countries are unfamiliar with the designation ‘of applied sciences’”, according to van Oorschot. “Because we use an unconventional term, we constantly have to explain exactly what kind of institution we are. This is such a shame, and there is no need for it. After all, many universities abroad teach on a much lower level than the Dutch ‘hogescholen’.”

The proposal stems from frustrations about organisations that pretend to be educational institutions when they in fact do not offer any government-accredited courses of study. Because of this, students sometimes end up paying a lot of money to obtain degrees that are essentially worthless.

Hop, Petra Vissers