Medicine is a very popular field of study. Today, loads of young adults are interested in pursuing a career in this challenging, innovative, but above all, exciting and invigorating subject. The Netherlands is one of the countries that students can choose to follow their academic dreams since the country is full of top-class universities, has a rich and engaging culture and most universities offer students plenty of room to develop their own path within their program.
Since universities in the Netherlands are mostly public and therefore funded by the government, Dutch students will be charged a set price for their postsecondary education, whether that be a university, a college, or another public educational institution. Students that are not from the Netherlands but another EU country will be charged the same amount that Dutch students are required to pay. However, non-EU students will be faced with institutional fees, which differ between universities. This can make studying in the Netherlands a pricey undertaking for those from outside of the EU. We will give you a shortlist of the cheapest medical universities for this special group of international students.
Cheap Medical Schools in the Netherlands
1. Delft University of Technology
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 11,362
Kicking off our list is Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), one of the oldest public technological universities in the country, as it was founded in 1842. The university is located in the city of Delft in the province of South Holland. It is not possible to study “traditional” clinical medicine at TU Delft. However, since this university offers a more technical approach to all of its programs, students are able to follow bachelor’s programs such as Clinical Technology. This bachelor’s program will equip students with all the hypermodern knowledge about medical imaging, surgical robotics, and 3D printed organs. This technical approach makes sure students are shaped to fit perfectly into the always developing and innovative world of today’s medical field. This way, future professionals will be able to draw a perfect link between their patients and the available modern technology. A bachelor’s degree from TU Delft will make sure a student can reach their full potential on the competitive job market today’s society hosts. It is important to note that the majority of programs at TU Delft mostly are offered in Dutch.
2. University of Twente
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 11,474
Next on our list of cheap medical schools in the Netherlands, we have come to the University of Twente (UT). This public university is located in the city of Enschede in the most eastern part of the country. UT primarily focuses on technical and social sciences in its curriculum, which makes it not possible to study traditional, clinical medicine at this university. Instead, aspiring students can choose to enroll in the bachelor’s program of Technical Medicine, which has a more technical approach to modern-day medicine. Students will be given all the knowledge to be able to form a bridge between modern-day, ever innovating technology and the human body to create more advanced treatment plans, surgical procedures, and optimized recovery programs. Graduates will be the people that will create the link between the different fields of mathematics, physics, and biology to create the new medical professionals of the future. The bachelor’s program will take a student three years to complete, given that all courses are passed in the year they are supposed to. The master’s program can follow afterward. Other faculties at the university include the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET), the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS), among others.
3. Eindhoven University of Technology
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 12,005
Halfway down our list is Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The city of Eindhoven is located in the southern region of the Netherlands and is a relatively big city with over 230 thousand inhabitants. This university is just like the previous two universities we have been to, UT and TU Delft, in the way that it is not possible to study the traditional, clinical path of medicine. Instead, the bachelor’s degree in Medical Sciences and Technology focuses on fathoming the biological processes that take place in organs, tissues, and cells of the human body. By doing this, the core of human medicine is grasped as understanding the processes that are involved in keeping the human body healthy are crucial if you want to find out what goes wrong when a cell, tissue, or whole organ falls ill. Students will be able to treat these illnesses, detect them before they rear their heads,s or even prevent them from happening altogether. Next to these courses, students will be enrolled in mathematics and physics to make sure they will receive a strong base of knowledge to be innovative professionals when it comes to developing new treatment, diagnostics, and detection techniques. The university places 99th in the 2019 QS World University Rankings and takes up third place in the country’s university ranking.
4. Wageningen University and Research
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 17,146
Wageningen University and Research (WUR) is headquartered in the city of Wageningen in the central part of the country. WUR was founded in 1876 as an agricultural college and was recognized as a public university in the same year. Its history still shows in today’s curriculum, as most of the bachelor’s programs that are being run at the university are centered around agriculture, management, and science. The university offers a number of Dutch bachelor’s programs, which include Biology, Molecular Life Sciences, Health and Society, and Food and Health. These programs are only taught in Dutch, so international students might be more interested in enrolling in an English bachelor’s program at the university. These include Animal Sciences, Food Technology, and Environmental Sciences. Animal Sciences dives deep into the functioning of animals and how they have become a crucial part of today’s society. At this cheap medical school in the Netherlands, students will focus on food safety, the conservation of vulnerable nature reserves, and how we can make sure that we can live in harmony with nature. Important is that students should know that none of the bachelor’s programs will give students the opportunity to become a practicing medical professional as the programs do not focus on the clinical approach to any illnesses. Wageningen University and Research takes up the 59th place in the World University Rank 2020 by Times Higher Education and is the number one university in the country according to the same platform.
5. University of Amsterdam
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 21,664
The number five on our list is the University of Amsterdam (UvA) which is located in, as the name would suggest, the capital city of the country, Amsterdam. It is one of the two universities in the city, with the other one being the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, which translates to Free University of Amsterdam (VU). UvA was founded in 1632 and officially became a university in 1877. The university currently houses around 31,000 students and is tightly connected to the college of Amsterdam (Hogeschool van Amsterdam, HvA). The university counts numerous different faculties, including the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and, of course, the Faculty of Medicine, among others. UvA’s main campus is located in the city center, the Faculty of Medicine is located in the south-eastern area of the city in the Bijlmermeer neighborhood. Each year, around 350 first-year students are admitted into the Faculty of Medicine, where they will be able to follow the academic path in the study of medicine. Both the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs are available at UvA, with the bachelor’s program consisting mostly of three years of theoretical teaching and is focused on providing students with a strong foundation for when they enter the master’s program. During this master’s program, which will also take approximately three years, students will be focusing on obtaining practical knowledge and skills as they will be partaking in trainee internships in various different hospitals.
6. Utrecht University
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 24,179
Utrecht University (UU) was founded in 1634 and currently, over 30,000 students are enrolled in one of its degrees and programs. The university offers bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and doctorate degrees to its students. The Faculty of Medicine is tightly connected to the UMC Utrecht, the medical center on the university’s campus. Within the faculty, students can enroll in two bachelor’s programs and three master’s programs, one of which is the “traditional” medicine degree. This medical school in the Netherlands, contrary to the degrees at TU Delft and TU/e, has a more clinical approach. The treatment of the patient is a central factor in the program and the university wastes no time in getting students acquainted with the practical approach as the third and last year of the bachelor’s degree consists mostly of a practical study at the university’s hospital.
7. University of Groningen
- Tuition fees for full-time Dutch/EU students: USD$ 2,278
- Tuition fees for first-year international students: USD$ 34,982
Closing off our list, with the highest tuition fee for international students, is the University of Groningen (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, RUG). RUG is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as it was founded in 1614. The campus is located in the city of Groningen in the north of the country. The various different faculties that the university houses are spread around the city, with some of them being located in and around the city center. The university’s faculties include the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Faculty of Economics and Business, among many others. The Faculty of Medicine is headquartered near the university’s affiliated hospital, the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG). It is in this hospital that students get to put their theoretical knowledge into practice when they go on to partaking in internships in their master’s program. During the bachelor’s program, students are able to pick their own track within the program, for example, Medicine, Profile Global Health or Medicine, Profile Sustainable Care. Studying abroad at this level is optional but there will be plenty of opportunities for students to gain international experience while being enrolled in a master’s program. It is important to note that every student that has completed a bachelor’s degree at RUG is guaranteed entry into the master’s program that follows after.
We hope that this article on cheap medical schools in the Netherlands was helpful. Make sure to also check out the Available Programs in Europe!
