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Law schools Zuyd and Maastricht University strengthen cooperation

Education

Starting in May 2026, credits earned in the minor in Criminal Law at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Zuyd) will count directly toward the pre-master's programme in Law at Maastricht University (UM). This far-reaching agreement is part of a new partnership between the UM Faculty of Law and Zuyd's Law Academy. It marks the first time in the Netherlands that credits earned in a higher professional education law programme will count directly toward a pre-master's programme in Law.

Integration

The aim of the agreement is to promote the flow of students between the law programmes of Zuyd and UM and to jointly ensure a sufficient number of well-trained lawyers in Limburg. Zuyd and UM are also working on fully integrating the pre-Master's degree in Law into Zuyd's law programme. Furthermore, the law programmes of Zuyd and UM are exploring other forms of collaboration.

Retaining Talent

The agreement builds on a partnership agreement signed between UM and Zuyd on September 30, 2021. This agreement aims, among other things, to retain talent for the Meuse-Rhine Euregion and to promote the flow of students back and forth between Zuyd and UM.

Positive for students and the region

Jan Smits, dean of the UM Faculty of Law: “As dean, I am extremely pleased with this agreement with Zuyd. The shared legal education space we are creating here in Limburg is unique in the Netherlands. I look forward to further intensifying our collaboration in training lawyers for a society in which they are desperately needed.”

Koen Savrij Droste, programme manager at Zuyd's law department and programme director of the UM-Zuyd Collaboration, is also pleased: “With this agreement, Zuyd and UM are working together to retain legal talent in the region. This collaboration is unique in the Netherlands and makes it easier for our law students to progress to a master's programme. This can have a magnetising effect.”

According to Eric van de Luijtgaarden, lecturer in Preventive Law at Zuyd and endowed professor at UM, the collaboration also offers opportunities for linking practice-oriented and academic legal research: "The collaboration meets a broader need to train lawyers who are connected to the region and to the research themes of Zuyd and UM. Lawyers who help prevent problems and, where necessary, solve them, and contribute to strengthening our rule of law."

Dries Lodewijks (directeur financiële-, management- en rechtenopleidingen Zuyd), Saskia Brand-Gruwel (bestuurslid Zuyd) en Jan Smits (decaan Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid, UM). Staand op de achtergrond (vlnr): Koen Savrij Droste (opleidingsmanager HBO-Rechten Zuyd en programmadirecteur Samenwerking UM – Zuyd), Bart Paumen (adviseur Strategie, Zuyd), Eric van de Luijtgaarden (lector en bijzonder hoogleraar Preventive Law bij, respectievelijk, Zuyd en de UM) en Brahim Ait Mellouk (directeur Faculteit der Re
The collaboration agreement between Zuyd and UM was signed on January 27th at Zuyd in Heerlen by (from left to right): Dries Lodewijks (director of financial, management, and law programmes at Zuyd), Saskia Brand-Gruwel (board member of Zuyd), and Jan Smits (dean of the Faculty of Law, UM). Standing in the background (from left to right): Koen Savrij Droste (programme manager of Zuyd HBO-Law and programme director of the UM-Zuyd Collaboration), Bart Paumen (strategy advisor, Zuyd), Eric van de Luijtgaarden (lecturer and endowed professor of Preventive Law at Zuyd and UM, respectively), and Brahim Ait Mellouk (director of the Faculty of Law, UM).

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