National Student Survey 2025
The National Student Survey (NSE: Nationale Studenten Enquête) is a nationwide survey that gathers feedback from students across Dutch higher education. Each year, nearly all students are invited to share their experiences and opinions about their study programmes and institutions.
We conducted a comparative analysis of the NSE 2025 results, focusing on full-time bachelor programmes with the following titles:
- Data Science
- Artificial Intelligence
- Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Among 13 Data Science and Artificial Intelligence bachelor programmes offered in the Netherlands, we rank first on many individual criteria and place in the top 3 across nearly all categories.
The results are summarized in two tables:
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General Questions: Students rated each question on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). The scores are averaged per programme.
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Thematic Scores: Several related questions are grouped into themes. Each theme score represents the average of its underlying questions.
General Questions
Based on individual survey questions, we ranked #1 in the following key areas:
- The preparation for a professional career
- The teachers in your course programme
- The teachers are able to convey the teaching material clearly in English
- The atmosphere in your course programme
- The general skills acquired in your course programme
- Examination and assessment
- The educational feasibility of your course programme
Table 1. Average scores on individual survey questions (scale 1–5). Gold, Silver, and Bronze highlight the top 3 scores per question.
| University | Program | Number of Respondents | The preparation for a professional career | The teachers in your course programme | The teachers are able to convey the teaching material clearly in English | Based on my experiences so far, I would choose this course programme again | The atmosphere in your course programme | How satisfied are you with your course programme in general? | The content of the course programme | The general skills acquired in your course programme | The information provided by your course programme | The study facilities offered by your course programme | Examination and assessment | The educational feasibility of your course programme | The study guidance/counselling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breda University of Applied Sciences | ADS&AI | 93 | 4.26 | 3.97 | 4.47 | 4.08 | 4.23 | 3.94 | 4.04 | 4.22 | 3.61 | 4.08 | 3.78 | 4.05 | 3.91 |
| Saxion Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 9 | 4.00 | 3.89 | 3.40 | 4.22 | 3.67 | 4.22 | 4.22 | 3.67 | 3.89 | 4.33 | 3.78 | 4.00 | 3.89 |
| De Haagse Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 107 | 3.92 | 3.97 | 3.89 | 3.79 | 4.03 | 3.84 | 3.91 | 3.82 | 3.70 | 3.67 | 3.28 | 3.77 | 4.01 |
| Universiteit Maastricht | DS&AI | 98 | 3.70 | 3.54 | 4.20 | 3.71 | 3.91 | 3.82 | 3.81 | 3.93 | 3.80 | 4.10 | 3.27 | 3.67 | 3.88 |
| Hogeschool Rotterdam | ADS&AI | 36 | 3.47 | 3.42 | 3.44 | 3.26 | 3.72 | 3.25 | 3.22 | 3.56 | 3.14 | 3.47 | 3.11 | 3.50 | 3.65 |
| Zuyd Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 16 | 3.44 | 3.94 | 4.07 | 3.62 | 4.00 | 3.38 | 3.56 | 3.44 | 3.44 | 3.38 | 3.38 | 3.31 | 4.12 |
| Technische Universiteit Eindhoven | DS | 122 | 3.42 | 3.47 | 4.10 | 3.85 | 3.80 | 3.73 | 3.80 | 3.80 | 3.82 | 4.13 | 3.59 | 3.88 | 3.90 |
| Universiteit van Amsterdam | AI | 70 | 3.32 | 3.60 | 3.90 | 4.10 | 3.99 | 3.93 | 3.83 | 3.81 | 3.81 | 4.22 | 3.66 | 3.97 | 3.94 |
| Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen | AI | 162 | 3.26 | 3.59 | 4.08 | 3.82 | 4.03 | 3.86 | 3.84 | 3.73 | 3.86 | 4.26 | 3.71 | 3.85 | 3.81 |
| Universiteit Leiden | DS&AI | 160 | 3.19 | 3.42 | 3.99 | 3.88 | 3.89 | 3.74 | 3.86 | 3.57 | 3.81 | 4.27 | 3.69 | 3.85 | 3.62 |
| Rijksuniversiteit Groningen | AI | 129 | 3.16 | 3.86 | 4.23 | 4.02 | 4.07 | 3.82 | 3.88 | 3.81 | 3.88 | 4.27 | 3.71 | 3.88 | 4.15 |
| Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | AI | 198 | 3.03 | 3.32 | 4.17 | 3.63 | 3.74 | 3.62 | 3.54 | 3.55 | 3.65 | 3.82 | 3.36 | 3.75 | 3.37 |
| Universiteit Utrecht | AI | 95 | 3.02 | 3.61 | 3.85 | 3.96 | 4.08 | 3.84 | 3.88 | 3.57 | 3.78 | 3.99 | 3.63 | 3.99 | 4.14 |
Thematic Scores
We ranked in the top 2 across all thematic categories, we achieved #1 rankings in the following themes:
- Connection to professional practice / professional career
View questions
- Acquiring skills for professional practice
- The link to professional practice
- The teachers in your course programme
View questions
- The teachers are involved with the students
- The teachers have good didactic skills
- The teachers are content experts
- The teachers are very knowledgeable about the professional practice
- The teachers provide good support
- The teachers inspire me
- The teachers provide understandable explanations
- The teachers foster an environment where questions can be asked
- Engagement and contact
View questions
- I can reach teachers if I need to
- I get feedback on my work that helps me understand the subject material
- I feel safe to be myself at the institution where I’m studying
- I feel at home at the institution where I’m studying
- I feel inspired by what I learn during my course programme
- I am regularly engaged in learning and work with the subject material
- In addition to the regular lessons and assignments, I am also actively involved in my course programme
- Teachers appreciate the feedback from students about the course programme
- My course programme is open to feedback from students
- Examination and assessment
View questions
- How the examination and assessment matches the content of the programme
- The clarity of the criteria on which you are assessed
- The quality of the examination of knowledge and insight
- The quality of practical examinations
- How the form of examination matches the content of the programme
- The usefulness of the feedback on assignments, examinations, reports, etc.
Table 2. Average scores per theme based on grouped survey questions (scale 1–5). Gold, Silver, and Bronze highlight the top 3 scores per theme.
| University | Program | Number of Respondents | Connection to professional practice/professional career | The teachers in your course programme | The content and organisation of teaching | Engagement and contact | Guidance/counselling | Examination and assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breda University of Applied Sciences | ADS&AI | 93 | 4.17 | 3.90 | 3.99 | 4.18 | 4.09 | 3.83 |
| Saxion Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 9 | 4.06 | 3.75 | 4.11 | 4.00 | 3.83 | 3.60 |
| De Haagse Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 107 | 3.97 | 3.84 | 3.77 | 3.95 | 4.00 | 3.58 |
| Zuyd Hogeschool | ADS&AI | 16 | 3.78 | 3.78 | 3.35 | 3.62 | 4.00 | 3.61 |
| Universiteit Maastricht | DS&AI | 98 | 3.64 | 3.71 | 3.71 | 3.84 | 3.99 | 3.42 |
| Hogeschool Rotterdam | ADS&AI | 36 | 3.43 | 3.34 | 3.23 | 3.54 | 3.83 | 3.13 |
| Technische Universiteit Eindhoven | DS | 122 | 3.26 | 3.54 | 3.79 | 3.75 | 4.09 | 3.65 |
| Universiteit van Amsterdam | AI | 70 | 3.08 | 3.54 | 3.68 | 3.86 | 3.90 | 3.74 |
| Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen | AI | 162 | 3.00 | 3.70 | 3.73 | 3.86 | 4.00 | 3.70 |
| Rijksuniversiteit Groningen | AI | 129 | 2.97 | 3.80 | 3.77 | 3.89 | 4.08 | 3.65 |
| Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | AI | 198 | 2.96 | 3.44 | 3.51 | 3.65 | 3.49 | 3.51 |
| Universiteit Leiden | DS&AI | 160 | 2.95 | 3.58 | 3.66 | 3.78 | 3.73 | 3.73 |
| Universiteit Utrecht | AI | 95 | 2.62 | 3.67 | 3.85 | 3.83 | 4.15 | 3.70 |
Acknowledgment
We sincerely thank our students for participating in the National Student Survey. Your feedback helps us grow and continuously improve the quality of our programme.