Utrecht University School of Economics

Utrecht University School of Economics (USE) is the Economics department of Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. The strategy of USE focuses on further internationalization of students and lecturers, further development of talent and career-planning policies, boosting the research programmes by organizing them into focus areas and honing the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in order to improve access to the labour market.^[1]

Utrecht School Economics (USE) is a recognised centre of expertise for multidisciplinary economics, dedicated to education and research. It strongly focuses on institutional, historical and spatial dimensions of economic issues as well as the integration and collaboration between general economics and business economics.^[2]

Except for the two international honours colleges of the university (University College and Roosevelt Academy), USE is together with the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences the only UU department that offers an English-taught undergraduate degree programme. Its chairs are responsible for teaching and conducting research.

The department is divided into three different institutes:

• the Undergraduate School of Economics, which offers bachelor’s programmes
• the Graduate School of Economics, which offers Masters in Economics
• the Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute (TKI), which conducts academic research and supervises research master's programmes (MPhil).

USE old address (Janskerkhof)

Programmes

Bachelors

Bsc in Economics and Business Economics

The Bsc in Economics and Business Economics is a three-year programme taught in English. In the three-year Bachelor’s programme, all students will start with a number of basic courses that together constitute the required part of the curriculum. After completing these courses they can specialize in a subject of their choice: Financial-Monetary Economics, Business & Management, International Economics, Labour & Organisation, Economics & Politics or the Firm and Competition^[3] Apart from this, USE offers a unique curriculum, giving students the opportunity to combine their study of Economics with especially compiled courses in Law, Social Sciences, Geography, Psychology or History.^[4]

Masters

Msc in Law and Economics

The Msc in Law and Economics directly tackles the interplay between economics and law, at both a national and international level. Across the course of a year students explore checks and balances, rules and regulations and they investigate the organization and operation of market economies.^[5]

Msc in Economics of Public Policy and Management

The Msc in Economics of Public Policy and Management is a unique programme that is specifically designed to provide students with the knowledge of Economics and Social Sciences. It gives students the theoretical base and analytical skills they need to assess important issues within the context of public policy and management. Across the course of a year they explore a range of complex, multidimensional problems from both an economic and a societal perspective^[6]

Msc in International Economics and Business

The Msc in International Economics and Business teaches students both the specific skills of business economics and the broader knowledge of economics, and sets this learning in an integrated context. Students tackle economic issues, such as strategic new business ventures, worldwide income distribution and financial management, while at the same time discussing budgets, trade, migration and the way that businesses and finance overlap with other social sciences. They learn how to handle genuine data from different firms and financial markets, build up links with professional organizations and hone their skills in research and analysis. They also have the freedom to focus on the subjects that are of most interest to them by choosing one of the following study tracks:^[7]

• International Management
• International Financial Economics
• International Ventures and Entrepreneurship
• Globalisation and development

Msc in Multidisciplinary Economics

The Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute provides one final research Master in Multidisciplinary economics. This two-year Research Master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Economics is specifically designed to give students both the specialised knowledge and expertise that they need for a career in economics and the multidisciplinary context that will help them to apply that knowledge in the real world ^[8]

Msc in Economics: Education and Communication

This final Master is not provided by Utrecht School of Economics, but by the Center of Education and Learning of the Utrecht University, in corporation with USE and Utrecht Graduate School of Law. This English taught Master's programme leads to a full secondary school teaching qualification in the Netherlands. During the course, students will undertake teaching rounds at different types of secondary schools or in a higher education institution, both in the Netherlands and abroad.

The programme takes two years to complete. The basic entry requirement for the Dutch variant is a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. For the international variant of the course, U-TEAch (Utrecht Teacher Education Academy), the entry requirements are more stringent.^[9]

Exchange Programmes

The Utrecht University School of Economics has exchange agreements with 27 partner universities offering students the opportunity to study one or two semesters at one of the following universities:

• Austria
• Australia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Italy
• Kazakhstan
• Latvia
• Poland
• Peru
• Singapore
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Thailand
• United States of America

Study Association

ECU'92 Logo

ECU'92^[10] is the study organization for all students who study economics at USE. They represent students, participate in the decision-making of the department and organize social, academic and career related events, often in partnership with the university. It is one of the largest study associations in Utrecht. The association has about 1800 members, approximately 130 of which are active in committees. Important political figures or executives have attended the ECU'92 conference throughout the years. Job fairs offer a convenient place for USE students to meet Dutch companies and get a first interview. Finally, ECU'92 publishes The Ecunomist, which name is a nod to the British weekly magazine The Economist.

USE (UCU Campus)

Notes

External links

• Utrecht University School of Economics homepage