The quality of all universities is more than sufficient and the differences between them are small, so concludes the university ranking that was assembled based on a survey of no fewer than 18,000 students and on audit reports written by experts since 1999. For example, the universities of Wageningen and Tilburg finish a hair behind the top three, and the distance between the top and lowest ranked schools is less than one-fourteenth of a point. Because of this, the guide editors compared the academic world to a village with thirteen supermarkets of the same chain and with the same prices, who still have to compete against each other. There are differences however. There are real differences between the four oldest universities (the universities of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen and Leiden), the younger, more vocational universities (of Maastricht, Rotterdam and Tilburg) and the specialist universities: the three technological universities and Wageningen.
According to the university guide, the `oldsters' are proud of their traditions. `They cherish their remaining centuries-old buildings in the city center, where twenty generations of the philosophers and scientists adorn the walls of well-guarded rooms.' Because they live on their reputation, they tend to react more slowly to changes in courses and teaching methods. According to the university guide, it is no coincidence that the oldest universities finish in the bottom half of the national ranking.
In last place, the University of Delft is the odd one out among technological universities. `This university is highly regarded for its research throughout the world, but that sometimes makes it difficult to motivate teachers to provide good education,' the guide concludes. Fortunately, the university has promised to improve matters.
In another publication, Elsevier's study special, professors voice their opinions. This year, the professors think matters could be stricter. A majority of them think universities should be able to select students at will. Graduating high school at a pre-university level (VWO) should not be sufficient to be accepted and the higher vocational education (HBO) is the best place for students that do not make it through the selection procedures.
If it were up to the 1108 surveyed professors, the university would be a bastion of high quality knowledge that is only accessible to the top students. The materials are available, they aver, now that a committee led by former Minister of Justice Korthals (VVD) started an experiment with selecting students. More than half of the surveyed professors (56 percent) are convinced decentralized selection will improve university education. Forty percent also thinks a university should be allowed to raise tuition fees for these programs. There is no doubt in their minds where the rejected students should go. Almost seventy percent wants to send them to the HBO. Once they get their bachelor's degree, over forty percent of the professors will not give them a second chance: They think an academic master's and a HBO bachelor's cannot be combined. Two-thirds of the professors think many current university students belong in institutes of higher vocational education (HBO).
But do the government's experiments with selection allow for such education of the elite? After all, they limit selection to programs with a certified, self-evident surplus value. That surplus value could be in an excellent international orientation, superior facilities (for example, a program with its own campus) and intensive tutoring. In addition, members of the Lower House - led by ruling parting CDA - demand that access to higher education is guaranteed and that selection procedures remain the exception. That also applies to the university. `It should never be the case that someone who does not make it through a selection process will have no chance of ever attending university,' Jacques Tichelaar, house member for the PvdA, confirms.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
