In May 2019 my son and I visited several universities in the Netherlands to see if he’d like to apply to any of them. The first one we saw was TU/e or the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Why do a Bachelor in the Netherlands?
- Attractive tuition even if you’re an “international” student (compared to the US)
- Three years instead of four
If you happen to have EU citizenship, whether you actually live in Europe or not, if you study at a Dutch university, you’re eligible for EU tuition which at TU/e in 2021-2022 is going to be € 2,168 = roughly $2,576 for the entire year.
If you don’t qualify for the cheaper tuition, and are a so called “international” student, you’d have to pay € 11,400 = $13,541, which is still pretty low even when compared to state universities in the US.
If you are an international student, you also have to “prove to the IND (Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service) that you have sufficient financial means to fund your studies and to live in the Netherlands during your studies. This standard amount is € 11,100 per year and is excluding tuition fees and fees for the application procedure.” You can read more about that on the Proof of Financial Means page.
That basically means that if you’re an international student, you need € 22,500 = around $26,725 for tuition and living expenses which includes a place to live, food, and anything else.
Also, most bachelor programs in the Netherlands last three years, because they usually don’t include several general education courses students in the US are usually required to take. So that saves you an entire year of tuition and expenses. Not a small chunk of change, though a pretty large percentage of students in Europe end up getting a Master’s degree, so if you decide to do that as well, you won’t be saving much (depending on where you get your Master’s).
TU/e Bachelor Programs Overview
As the web page about the TU/e campus says – TU/e has around 11,000 students attending their Bachelor, Master, and PhD programs. In other words, it’s pretty big.
TU/e offers several Bachelor programs entirely in English, though three of their programs are so called numerus fixus, which means they have a set number of slots and a selection procedure that includes an earlier application deadline (January 15) and tests.
When you apply to college in the Netherlands, you can apply to maximum four programs total in a given year, and only two numerus fixus programs, so you have to choose carefully.
For the rest of the programs, listed below, you have to meet the admission criteria and apply before the deadline of May 1.
Oh, and you have to pay the application fee of €100 (about $120 depending on the exchange rate). TU/e was the only university of the ones we saw that has an application fee, by the way. Applying to the other ones we considered doesn’t cost anything.
What else can you study in English at TU/e?
- Applied Mathematics
- Applied Physics
- Automotive Technology
- Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
- Data Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Industrial Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Sciences and Technology
- Psychology and Technology
- Sustainable Innovation
Why study at TU/e?
Here’s TU/e’s promotional video, if you’d like to see what the university’s marketing and media department thinks is most important
Also, U.S. News and World Report ranks TU/e worldwide at:
THE World University Rankings places TU/e worldwide at:
QS Top Universities places TU/e worldwide at:
Basically, TU/e is a pretty good university.
How do you apply to TU/e?
To apply to any program in the Netherlands you start with studielink.nl where you have to create an account and then indicate which programs you want to apply for. That sends the info to the specific programs and then the program will email you information to their own application form.
Studielink.nl has a very helpful step-by-step page explaining the application process.
What is Eindhoven like?
Eindhoven was founded in the 13th century, but it was largely destroyed during World War II, so it looks pretty modern.
We didn’t walk around that much and seem to have accidentally deleted the photos I took, but you can watch the promotional video about Eindhoven downtown made by the City of Eindhoven Tourist Information bureau.
You can read a bit more about Eindhoven on
How do you get to Eindhoven?
Eindhoven has an international airport connecting to a lot of destinations in Europe. It’s not huge, but has a few stores and places to eat.
If you arrive in the Netherlands via Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, a trip by train from Schiphol to Eindhoven takes about 1.5 hours.
Where to stay in Eindhoven?
We stayed in a two-bedroom AirBnB apartment that advertises itself as “Cozy, comfortable apartment near Eindhoven station,” though it turned out it wasn’t exactly near the station. There was a bus stop with a few bus lines to the station pretty close, however, and it was one of the cheapest two-bedrooms I found for those dates, so it worked for us. There is a grocery store not too far from there and the apartment is in a residential area of the city, so it’s nice and quiet.
Hope you enjoyed this little trip to Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Let us know if you have any questions.
Where else can you study in the Netherlands?
We’ll be posting about our visits to other universities in the Netherlands in the upcoming weeks. If you’re interested in researching more on your own, visit Study in Holland – the website to read if you’re interested in one of the Netherland’s more than 400 programs offered in English.
