About The Program
Highly popular for its personalized approach with students, this program focuses on the economic, political and sociocultural aspects of Europe from an international perspective. Special activities include field trips, museum visits and seminars on location. Cobblestone streets and outdoor cafés line this city ideally situated for travel to other countries.
Where you'll study
With about half of its students and faculty from abroad, internationalization is anchored into the core values of Maastricht University (UM). Thanks to its high-quality research, career-minded study programs, and small tutorial group learning style, UM has quickly built a solid reputation as one of the best young universities of the world. The university is in the city center and occupies landmark buildings. Maastricht is a compact university town at the southernmost tip of the Netherlands where nearly everyone commutes on bikes. Studying here, you’ll get the best of modern city lifestyle, history and culture, and nature. A ten-minute bike ride takes you into the hilly countryside with stunning green landscapes and storybook villages. A truly international city, you’ll hear foreign languages in the streets, cafés, and markets.
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TRIPS AND ACTIVITIES
Optional field trips and activities to introduce the local culture are available through your host university. Most events are free or discounted, but some come with an additional cost not included in UCEAP fees.
City tour of Maastricht,
including boat tour
Day trip to Amsterdam
Underground cave art tour
From The Californian Abroad
My study abroad experience in the Netherlands changed my life. I was able to explore the entire city of Maastricht independently. It is extraordinary how different, serene, and beautiful it all was. The ice cream tasted better than any I had ever had before. Grocery shopping was a challenge, but with the help of my roommate, we managed to use context clues to shop, and now we know that “aardappel” means potato.
I deliberately chose the shortest program I could find and ended up feeling like it wasn’t long enough! Our classes followed problem-based learning which meant doing the reading prior so we could participate in the discussions. Initially, the idea of speaking in class was jarring to me, but I learned that the class may benefit from what I share just as I would from what my classmates share.