Introduction

Amsterdam University College (AUC) is a college jointly founded by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and VU Amsterdam to provide undergraduate education in liberal arts and sciences. It is committed to cultivating students with international vision and interdisciplinary literacy.

Overview

Student composition: Students come from more than 65 countries and regions around the world, forming a diversified international learning community where students from different cultural backgrounds communicate and learn together, which helps to broaden students' international vision.

Course setting: It provides undergraduate honors courses in liberal arts and sciences. The courses are taught entirely in English. They are small and selective, focusing on interdisciplinary research and solving real-world problems.

History and establishment time

AUC was established in 2009 and is a relatively new college in the field of higher education in the Netherlands. However, it relies on the rich resources and academic traditions of the two long-established universities, the University of Amsterdam and the VU Amsterdam, and has rapidly developed into a distinctive undergraduate education institution in the Netherlands.

School strength

Faculty: With the support of faculty from the University of Amsterdam and the VU Amsterdam, it has a group of excellent teachers who have profound academic attainments and rich teaching experience in their respective disciplines and can provide students with high-quality teaching and guidance.

Teaching mode: small class teaching is adopted, with a maximum of 25 students per class. This small-scale teaching mode is conducive to full interaction and in-depth communication between teachers and students, promotes students to actively participate in classroom discussions and debates, and cultivates students' critical thinking and independent thinking ability.

Institutional nature

The Amsterdam University College is a college under a public university, jointly managed and supported by the University of Amsterdam and the Free University of Amsterdam.

Educational philosophy

Integration of arts and sciences and interdisciplinary education: emphasizes the integration of arts and sciences, encourages students to cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines, and cultivates students' ability to think and solve problems from multiple perspectives to better cope with the complex and ever-changing challenges of the real world.

Cultivate a global vision and social responsibility: focus on cultivating students' global vision, enable students to understand and pay attention to global issues, and contribute to solving these problems through learning and research, and cultivate students' social responsibility and global citizenship awareness.

Key laboratories and disciplines

Key disciplines: covering multiple fields such as science, social sciences and humanities, including but not limited to physics, chemistry, biology, economics, politics, sociology, philosophy, literature, etc. Students can choose from a variety of fields according to their own Choose the corresponding major direction according to your own interests and career planning.

Interdisciplinary research: The college does not have a specific key laboratory, but focuses on interdisciplinary research and teaching. Through the cross-integration of different disciplines, it promotes the development of innovative research and teaching methods, such as in-depth teaching and research activities in interdisciplinary fields such as environmental science, cognitive science, and international relations.

Faculty

The college does not have a traditional department, but provides three main professional directions, namely science, social sciences and humanities. Students can choose specific major courses and elective courses under these professional directions to build a personalized learning plan.

Ranking

As an undergraduate education college, there is no separate comprehensive ranking of world universities, but the University of Amsterdam ranks 53rd in the 2024 QS World University Rankings and 61st in the 2023-2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Its education quality and academic reputation also provide strong support for the undergraduate education of the University of Amsterdam College.

Expenses

Tuition fees: The tuition fee for the 2024-2025 academic year is 11,000 euros/year.

Living expenses: The living expenses in Amsterdam are relatively high, including accommodation, food, transportation, etc., which cost about 1000-1500 euros per month.

Campus

Location: Located in the Amsterdam Science Park in the east of Amsterdam, the campus has a strong academic atmosphere and gathers many scientific research institutions and high-tech companies, providing students with abundant internship and scientific research cooperation opportunities.

Campus facilities: The campus has modern teaching facilities and student dormitories. All students can be guaranteed to live in on-campus dormitories during the three-year study period. The dormitory types include single rooms, studio rooms and shared apartments, etc., providing students with a convenient and comfortable learning and living environment.