NSE 2022: Students feel at home at Avans

Overall, Avans students are satisfied to very satisfied about the education here. This is one of the conclusions drawn from the results of the Dutch National Student Survey 2022 (NSE). Students started the year with coronavirus measures in place. Nevertheless, the atmosphere received a high rating. The expertise of lecturers also scored well. Avans is doing better than comparable universities of applied sciences in nearly all themes.

Avans earned above-average scores for all items in the NSE. The item “inclusivity” (safe to be myself) scored highest of all. Students feel that Avans is a safe and inclusive environment in which they are treated equally, where they can be themselves and are given the opportunity to develop. They feel at home at Avans. 

Students are also very satisfied with the professional expertise of the lecturers and their knowledge of professional practice. Even more than last year, students felt that the atmosphere here made it comfortable to ask questions.

Philippe Raets, chair of the Executive Board, is proud of the results. “It is great to read that students are praising our lecturers and that they appreciate the overall atmosphere at Avans. You learn best in a safe environment where you feel good and where you can be yourself. We think this is important and give a lot of attention to it. The good results do not mean that we will rest on our laurels. Together, we will be working on the education of the future.”

Development opportunities

A theme where Avans scores somewhat lower is testing and evaluation. Avans students are less satisfied with the usefulness of feedback in particular. Nevertheless, they still rate this topic higher than students from comparable universities of applied sciences. 

The remote learning theme is another area where we can do better. The average rating of 3.4 is the same as last year. Compared to other topics, this is what students are least satisfied with. With all the developments regarding blended and hybrid education, this remains an area that requires attention.

Associate degrees are doing well

The two-year Associate degree study programmes (at a level between MBO-4 and HBO Bachelor’s) were introduced in 2017 to encourage further study in the Netherlands. From a national point of view, the increase in overall satisfaction among students of this relatively new type of education is very noticeable. The increase is higher than for other types of education, and we also see this in the Associate degree programmes in Den Bosch. At Avans, the Associate degree programmes Communicatie (Communication) and Logistiek (Logistics) are in the top 5 study programmes with the highest satisfaction scores.

From the part-time study programmes, Technische Bedrijfskunde (Industrial Engineering & Management) in Tilburg received the highest score. Autonome Beeldende Kunst (Fine Art) and Technische Informatica (Computer Science), both in Den Bosch, scored highest among the full-time study programmes.

About the NSE

The NSE is conducted every year at the behest of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This year, Avans University of Applied Sciences asked additional questions about the themes of distance learning and equal treatment.

All information has been incorporated into the NSE dashboard. This is where you can now compare all higher education study programmes. The dashboard will help students with their choice of study programme. The NSE also forms an important basis for the rankings of the Keuzegids HBO (higher professional education options guide) and Elseviers’ Beste Studies (best study programmes) which are published in October.