Your future
As an EPA graduate, you will be well-qualified for the professional world, having acquired a thorough understanding of the complex EU policy making processes and exceptional experience in identifying, analysing, tackling and communicating complex problems in an international environment.
You will be an academic professional who:
- Can understand and critically evaluate the complex system of European governance
- Is capable of understanding and analysing contemporary EU policy problems
- Is capable of researching and presenting solutions for such policy problems
- Has well developed know-how for strategically influencing the EU policy process to address such policy problems
Your practical skills will not be your only asset. Given that around 80% of EPA students and many staff members come from abroad, you will also be internationally orientated. In fact, about one third of our graduates are offered a job at their internship organisation before they've even graduated.
EPA graduates typically find employment very quickly after completing their studies, with a small proportion pursuing further studies such as PhD candidacy or additional master’s degrees.
Most of our graduates go on to find work in:
- Governmental institutions (Information Officer, Policy Advisor)
- Private firms performing ‘privatised’ government functions (Project Manager, EU Affairs Officer)
- Public affairs divisions of commercial corporations (Communications Consultant)
- Organisations with European or transnational missions (Partnership manager, Political Administrator)
- Non-profit organisations (Association manager)
- Consulting and lobbying (International Consultant)
Many of our graduates work in high-level agencies and companies, such as:
- UM Campus Brussels
- Shell
- Council of the European Union
- United Nations
- European Parliament
- Harvard University
Alumni @ work
Emma Wasser
Policy officer at the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture, and Science
"My favourite course was the EU lobbying course. It taught me to collaborate with peers in a very intense way, and I learned a lot of practical skills."
Frederik Hafen
Environmental Democracy Policy Officer at European Environmental Bureau
"Maastricht University has an incredible reputation in European political science and the fact that it was (to some degree still is) a relatively young university meant that I was likely to receive a fresh and forward-looking education."
Kim Graves
Accredited Parliamentary Assistant
European Parliament
The EPA programme in Maastricht is unique in various ways. The most important aspect is the practical aspects of the course and the way it prepares you for working in and around the EU institutions in Brussels.
Rick Maijer
Public Affairs Adviser
Province of Limburg
I’d recommend European Public Affairs to anyone. It’s a small-scale, very international programme, where you make friends for life. I have many special memories of that time, from my first take-home exam to the lobby presentations.
Jesper Daniek Saman
Second Secretary, Dutch Embassy, Rome, Italy
In this video, Jesper Daniek Saman, alumnus MA European Public Affairs, explains the connections between his educational background and his current job position in the Dutch Embassy in Italy. Jesper maintains his vision to contribute to society as he believes that the European Public Affairs master’s taught him that “the European citizens should be given an important voice”.
