Rankings & accreditations

Based on this ranking, THE publishes specialised rankings each year, such as:

THE Young Universities Ranking
In the THE list of universities under 50 years old, UM scores 10th place worldwide.

THE World University Rankings by Subject
The THE World University Rankings are based on 13 strict and comprehensive performance indicators for education, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation. For a full overview of the results, visit the THE subject rankings page. 

THE Best universities in Europe 
Maastricht University occupies the 36th place in this year's first annual publication of the Best universities in Europe ranking. This ranking shows the top 200 of Europe's leading universities. For more details, visit the THE Best universities in Europe page.

THE World University Impact Rankings 
These Impact Rankings are based on the 17 Sustainability Goals (SDGs) of the UN. This year, UM participated in six of these rankings

QS World University Rankings** 
In the 2024 QS World University Rankings, UM ranks 230^th. Visit the QS website for the full ranking. 

Shanghai Ranking*** 
Maastricht University has maintained its place in the top 300 in the annual Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The ARWU (the Shanghai Ranking), assesses universities on the quality of education, quality of academic staff, research output and academic staff performance. 

Financial Times 
In 2020, Maastricht University's master's programme in International Business was ranked 50^th, according to the Masters in Management ranking. In the Financial Times European Business Schools ranking of 2019, the School of Business and Economics was ranked 61^st.

Quality assessment 
UM is ranked as the most international university in the Netherlands, and the lecturers’ level of English is rated the highest. Most UM programmes also score high on preparing for a professional career.

Keuzegids Masters 2023
This ‘Keuzegids’ researches student opinions using the National Student Survey. Student satisfaction is summarised on five themes: Content, Teachers, Testing, Career Preparation and Atmosphere. The labour market perspective is given for clusters of programmes (e.g. all programmes) and does not offer any specific outcomes for UM programmes. 

• Two following Master's programmes are rated excellent: 'Global Supply Chain Management and Change' and 'Learning and Development in Organisations'.  
• The master's programme Health Innovation Food Management also received a very good rating.

Elsevier Best Studies 2019*
In the annual ‘Best Studies’ edition of the Dutch magazine Elsevier, universities are ranked based on the quality and variety of their programmes, facilities, curriculum, teaching quality, testing standards and overall organisation and communication.

Elsevier also publishes results for the master’s programmes. 

• 3 UM master's programmes were ranked 1^st: Artificial Intelligence, Health Sciences (Research) and Cultures of Art, Science and Technology (Research) 
• The master’s programme Economics and Operations Research shows a significant improvement in student satisfaction. Learning and Development also has very satisfied students. 

* The results of the 2019 edition are identical to the results of 2018, since both are based on the National Student Survey 2018. 

Accreditations

The quality of university programmes is regularly evaluated by national and international accreditation organisations. 

Check out UM’s accreditations. 

NVAO Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment
The ‘Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment’ focuses on university-wide internal quality assurance for study programmes. The six-year, university-wide accreditation means UM has first-rate education and is supported by an overarching system that ensures the continuous high quality of the curricula.  

For this certificate, NVAO evaluated; 

• the quality of the assurance system,  
• the planning and control cycle,  
• the improvement of programmes, 
• the governance and organisational structure, and  
• the way the process of university decision-making promotes the quality of education. 

NVAO Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation
In 2013, UM was awarded the NVAO’s Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation. According to the NVAO, internationalisation is ‘in UM’s DNA’.

Dutch & European Quality Certificates for Internationalisation
A number of programmes from Maastricht University have been awarded the 'Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation' from the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). For this quality feature, NVAO uses the Frameworks for the Assessment of Quality in Internationalisation that were created by the European Consortium for Accreditation in Higher Education (ECA).  The ECA is the first quality assurance agency to assess the quality of internationalisation in compliance with current international quality assurance practices. Once a programme is awarded the NVAO quality feature, they can apply for the ECA Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation. 

The following programmes have been awarded both the NVAO Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation and the ECA Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation (View the full ECA report) : 

School of Business and Economics 
BSc in International Business 
MSc in International Business 
MSc in Information & Network Economics 
MSc in Management of Learning 
MSc in Global Supply Management & Change 
Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences 
BSc in European Public Health 
MSc in European Public Health 
MSc in Global Health 
MSc in Health Professions Education 

NVAO quality certificate ‘small-scale and intensive’
The University College Maastricht bachelor’s programme and the master’s programme in Forensic Psychology received the special NVAO quality label 'small-scale and intensive'.

NVAO quality certificate for the excellent achievement level of its graduates
In 2008, University College Maastricht was the first to receive an NVAO quality label for the excellent achievement level of its graduates. It is an exceptional additional certificate, on top of the regular accreditation, for programmes that excel in a specific area. Only two higher education programmes have been awarded this label.

'Triple crown' of accreditations
The UM School of Business and Economics is internationally accredited by the renowned AACSB (American), EQUIS (European) and AMBA (UK), and therefore part of an elite group of international schools with all three accreditations. This means graduates can get their degree worldwide.