After graduation

After graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), you can choose to enter the labour market, but you can also choose to continue your studies. On this page we have listed a number of possibilities for you.

What can you do with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics?

PPE offers a programme that allows students to apply for a job or enrol in a master's programme. You will not only obtain a bachelor's degree from a world-renowned university, but also an interdisciplinary diploma in the English language. This means that once you have completed the PPE course here, you will be eligible for more opportunities than someone with an monodisciplinary bachelor's degree.

Further study after graduating in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Studenten lunchen op UCU
Photo: Rebke Klokke

Unlike in professional programmes, at university you are often not trained for a specific profession. By obtaining a university degree, you show that you have an academic working and thinking level. You can go to work, but many students continue with a subsequent master's degree after a bachelor's.
 

At Utrecht University you can opt for a:

  • One-year master's programmes: these one-year master's programmes prepare you to practise a profession at academic level, for example in the economic sector or in policy advice.
  • Two-year master's programmes: these two-year master's programmes will prepare you for a career as a researcher, for example as a PhD student in History of Philosophy at a university. Alumni can also start working for (independent) research centers or as an analyst in the business sector. 

Further study at UU

Depending on the choices you make and the content of your bachelor's programme, after graduating you can examine whether you can be admitted to one of the following master's programmes at Utrecht University. You will have to take into account specific admission requirements that vary per programme.

Because PPE is more intensive teaching than regular Bachelor programmes, the workload of my current Master’s is very doable. PPE thus prepared me really well for my graduate education!

Professions

After completing your Bachelor or Master studies, you will eventually enter the labour market. There you can go in any direction, if you have studied PPE. You will not only earn a bachelor's degree from a world-renowned university, but also an interdisciplinary diploma in the English language. Our graduates end up in: politics, the legal sector, banking and the economic sector, policy advice, research analysis, science, government, diplomatic services, journalism and media and education. So, plenty of opportunities! If you want a more detailed insight into the career path examples of PPE alumni, please have a look at the data below (based on a survey conducted among two graduating classes (2022 and 2023):
 

  • About half of our students follow a master programme
  • About 1 in every 4 students takes a gap year
  • About 10% finish off another Bachelor programme
  • About 6% start working

Where do our Alumni go on to study:

  • Oxford University, London School of Economics, St. Andrews
  • University of Vienna, University of Konstanz, University of Tubingen, European University Institute
  • Many chose to stay in the Netherlands: Leiden University, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Utrecht University, Erasmus University Rotterdam

PhD

When you have completed a master's programme and you are certain that you want to continue as a researcher, you can choose to do a PhD in your field. A PhD track takes four years and concludes with a dissertation with which you will be awarded a doctorate. Doctoral students - also known as PhDs - make an important contribution to Utrecht's research.