About us
University College Utrecht offers an English-language undergraduate programme in the Liberal Arts & Sciences at Utrecht University. Students live on campus in guaranteed housing and are free to construct their own curricula from more than 200 courses on offer, from the Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences.
University College Utrecht was founded in 1998 as the first university college in the Netherlands. The College presently is home to around 750 students from nearly 70 different nationalities. Students follow a three year bachelor's programme and graduate with a degree from Utrecht University, either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Art depending on the disciplines they focused on. University College Utrecht, as one of the Honours College of Utrecht University, offers an academically intensive, challenging programme, and students are guaranteed housing for three years and typically live on campus in a tight knit community for the duration of their studies.
Liberal Arts and Sciences
University College Utrecht offers an interdisciplinary curriculum, comprising sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Students are required to take courses from the different disciplines, formulating a curriculum of courses that complement each other and offer the student a wider perspective on their academic interests, equipping them with the tools to achieve a broader view on the subject matter. By drawing on this broad range of knowledge, students develop a deep understanding of complicated, important issues. During their time at the College, students have the freedom to explore their academic interests before declaring their interdisciplinary major, usually specialising in two or three subjects in greater depth and at an advanced level.
Both intellectually and culturally, different worlds meet at UCU. The different perspectives in the UCU educational community helps to give students a deeper understanding of the world, one that is facing complex challenges that transcend disciplinary boundaries and national borders, such as climate change, conflicts, pandemics and the impact of new technologies. The diversity of disciplinary and cultural perspectives brought to the classroom by students from nearly 70 countries is a fundamental part of the discussion, helping to create an international learning environment at UCU that prepares our students to meet such challenges.
Interactive Learning
The small-scale and interactive class format creates optimal opportunity for learning, with a typical classroom consisting of no more than 22 students. Evaluation is not limited to examinations, as students lead discussions about reading materials, engage in debate, give presentations in class, work on assignments in small groups, perform research, analyse data and write papers. They receive personal feedback on their work in order to improve their academic skills and levels of understanding.
Studying at University College Utrecht requires some planning and self reflection; students choose four classes every semester from a catalog of more than 200. This freedom to construct a personal curriculum also comes with the challenge of declining to pursue other academic options. Students are supported throughout their education by their tutors, who are assigned when the students start their studies and stay with them until graduation, advising them about their curriculum and helping them to achieve their academic goals.
UCU is where I have been allowed (or even been asked) to be myself
Campus life
University College Utrecht is modelled broadly on American college campuses: all buildings are located together on our historic site, including student accommodation, classrooms, social facilities and staff offices. Education continues outside of the classroom, as students from all backgrounds, nationalities and class years live together on our campus. This continuous interaction allows our students to develop the interdisciplinary and intercultural communication competence, and skills and international experience needed to contribute successfully to today’s world. At UCU students live and learn together, not merely alongside each other.
At University College Utrecht, students are strongly encouraged to take active roles both on and off the campus, whether it be organising student activities, participating in cultural or academic workshops, or playing sports. All social events on campus are organized by more than 40 student committees. A unique spirit of community and participation at University College Utrecht means that students learn, develop and enjoy life both inside and outside the classroom.
Please note: University College Utrecht offers a traditional Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. Utrecht University also offers a non-residential Liberal Arts and Sciences programme, the School of Liberal Arts, that is not affiliated with University College Utrecht.