Rankings and accreditations - Maastricht University

(I believe Maastricht University, where I used to work has a future proof strategy. The eyes is on the ball -i.e. rankings and performance -, and there is a plan on how to thrive in an increasingly more competitive and international environment. AS)

Rankings and accreditations - Maastricht University

he Problem-Based Learning system at Maastricht University guarantees a high quality education. Students get more out of their studies, take less time to complete their studies and are overall more satisfied.

Rankings

High scores in ‘under 50’ rankings

In two prestigious rankings that list the best universities worldwide under the age of 50, UM scores very high grades. In the Times Higher Education 100 under 50, UM ranks 6th, making a sharp rise from 19th in 2012 (read the news report); in the QS ‘top 50 under 50’, UM ranks 7th (read the press release).

Elsevier

In the 2012 edition of the Dutch magazine Elsevier, students and professors rank universities based on their range of programmes, facilities, curriculum, quality of teaching, testing standards and overall organisation and communication:

• Twelve UM programmes found their way into the Top 3, and four achieved the top spot: International Business, Tax Law, Medicine and European Studies.
• Nine bachelor’s programmes were rated above average: International Business, Econometrics & Operations Research, Economics, Tax Law, Fiscal Economics, Dutch Law, Medicine, European Studies and University College Maastricht (Liberal Arts & Sciences).

This year Elsevier also published results for the master’s programmes for the first time. As it is not always possible to compare master’s programmes, national comparisons were only made for nine programmes. Of those nine, seven achieved a Top 3 listing: European Studies (1), Psychology (1), Medicine (3), Econometrics & Operations Research (2), Dutch Law (3), Arts and Culture (3) and the Arts and Culture research programme (2).

Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings

According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings, Maastricht University is one of the top 200 universities worldwide. In the 2012-2013 edition of the THE rankings, UM has moved up 82 places to 115th position. The THE rankings are based on the world’s largest reputation survey of more than 17,500 experienced academics from 137 countries.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings' Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health Universities

UM has made a new entry into the Top 50 Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health Universities 2012-2013, ranked 49th. This THE table judges world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

QS World University Rankings

In the World University Rankings, Maastricht University is ranked 107th, marking a sharp rise from 172nd in 2006. The Medicine programme is in the top 20 in the European clinical medicine ranking.

Shanghai Ranking

Marking a slight rise, Maastricht University has maintained its place in the top 300 in the annual Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The ARWU, better known as the Shanghai Ranking, assesses universities on the quality of education quality of academic staff, research output and academic staff performance.

Financial Times

Maastricht University's master's programme in International Business is ranked one of the top 33 business programmes in the world according to the Master in Management Programmes published by the Financial Times. In terms of value for money Maastricht ranked an impressive 4th.

CHE Ranking

The Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung (CHE) Excellence ranking compares European research centres for prospective master's and PhD students. Every year the CHE University Ranking reviews a number of university programmes. The scores do not result in an actual ranking list, but are rather used to place several aspects of the study programmes, such as ’international orientation’ and ’overall study situation’, into three groups: top, middle or bottom group.

In 2013 UM’s Psychology masters were reviewed. Maastricht was distinguished by its internationally oriented master’s programmes, overall study and e-learning facilities, research orientation, support in studying abroad and the quality and breadth of the courses offered. Furthermore, with a score of 4.9 Maastricht was placed in the top group for citations in international journals.

Between 2009 and 2013, several UM programmes in the field of business and economics, health care, political science and psychology were reviewed. For almost all of the reviewed aspects, the programmes were placed in the top group.

CWTS Leiden Ranking 

According to the ‘Crown-indicator’: MNCS (Mean normalised citation score) used by the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2013, UM ranks 120th, rising from the 198th  position in 2012. This ranking measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities worldwide based on Web of Science indexed publications from 2008-2011 of Thomson Reuters. When compared to the other 239 European universities assessed UM, ranks 43th.

Keuzegids Hoger Onderwijs

As in previous years, Maastricht University (UM) ranked high in the Dutch University Guide (Keuzegids) 2013. Of the 16 assessed bachelor's programmes, 11 ranked in the top 3, 6 of which took first place. Economics and University College Maastricht (UCM) were also awarded the ‘quality seal’, a new quality indicator granted to institutions and programmes that according to University Guide’s standards belong to the top of the Dutch university education.

The programmes that take number one position are Economics (scores 8,0), Arts & Culture (7,2), International Business (6,8), Fiscal Economics (6,6), Fiscal Law (6,2) and European Studies (5,6). Although UCM scores remarkably high with 9,6 (8,6 last year), the programme ranks second place. University College Utrecht took first place, scoring a 10. High scores were also awarded to Econometrics (2nd with 7,2), Medicine (3rd with 7,2) and Artificial Intelligence (2nd with 6,8).

For more information, see the overview of all UM bachelor’s programmes scores.

In the 'Keuzegids' master's edition of 2013, Maastricht University was also ranked first in the Netherlands. Thanks to high quality accreditation reports, the following eight UM master's programmes came first in their categories: Management of Learning; Media Culture; Research Master in European Studies; Financial Economics (shared first place); International Business (shared first place); Mental Health; Health Sciences; Physician-Clinical Investigator. For more information, read the press release.

Accreditations

UM has been granted both the institutional accreditation and the ‘Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation’ by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). These two quality marks are important in terms of UM’s future plans.

The ‘Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment’ focuses on university-wide internal quality assurance for study programmes. In 2011 the law allowed universities to apply for a special feature for the quality of the institution in its full width. The six-year university-wide accreditation means not only that UM has first-rate education, but also that it is supported by an overarching system that ensures the continuous high quality of the curricula.

You can read the full NVAO report here.

'Triple crown' accreditation

The Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) is internationally accredited by the renowned AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, making it one of a few international schools with all three accreditations. The bachelor's and master's programmes in International Business offered at SBE also received in 2010 the NVAO "certification of internationalisation".

NVAO excellence label

NVAO regularly audits the institutions that it gives accreditations to. In 2008 the University College Maastricht was the first to receive a quality label from the NVAO for the achievement level of its graduate students. Only two higher education programmes have been awarded this label.