Last week, Dutch university association VSNU announced that the fourteen Dutch universities would opt for a generic relaxation of the binding study advice, by about 10 to 15 percent. This decision was preceded by several urgent letters and political discussions.
In practice, this means that first-year bachelors, and only those students who started this academic year, now have to obtain 40 credits instead of the usual 45. In general, first-year students need to pass one course less to be able to continue to the second year.
Incidentally, there are also programmes for which this does not apply. Students of University College ATLAS have to deal with a BSA norm of 60 EC. And within the Twente Education Model 2.0, there are differences between programmes in so-called 'programme-specific requirements'. Where one programme offers certain subjects only in an integrated module of 15 EC, another programme offers a course of, for example, 5 EC.
The Executive Board and the University Council therefore want the programmes that cannot simply relax the requirements on paper to consult with their programme committees in order to do so, in line with the generic relaxation announced by the VSNU last week. Because students decide whether or not to continue their studies before 1 February, these study programmes must communicate about a tailor-made solution to their students by 26 January at the latest.
