Head of the International Office Karin Paardenkooper will be traveling to Antwerp to accept the Diploma Supplement (DS) Label on behalf of the UT on 5 October. For students, this means that once you graduate you receive a document that, together with your diploma, will provide a standardized description of your completed studies.
New qualifications proliferate worldwide and countries are constantly changing their qualification systems and educational institutions. New graduates often search for employment outside of their home countries, and the DS can help provide transparency about their qualifications. Besides fostering students' employability abroad, the DS also provides students with access to lifelong learning opportunities.
For higher education institutions, the DS Label both protects the autonomy of institutions and allows them to be part of a recognized framework which is accepted all over Europe. It also raises the visibility of the institution abroad and helps save time by providing answers to recurrent questions about the content of diplomas.
The DS is issued in a widely-spoken European language and given automatically free-of-charge to every UT student upon graduation. It contains detailed information about the nature, level, context, content, and status of the studies completed. In this way, your qualifications can be more fairly and objectively assessed and judged by other academic institutions as well as potential employers.
Students should know that the DS is not a CV or a substitute for the original qualification, and does not guarantee recognition. The 47 European countries taking part in the Bologna Process, however, have agreed that each graduate in their respective country should receive the DS automatically and free-of-charge. The aim of the Bologna Process is to create a European Higher Education Area based on international cooperation and academic exchange that is attractive to European students and staff as well as to students and staff from other parts of the world.
For samples of a bachelor's and master's DS, go to www.utwente.nl/education/ds.
