Student Exchange
Studying at the UvA for up to a year
Exchange agreements
If you are enrolled in a degree programme at another university and wish to study at the University of Amsterdam for a limited period of time - a semester or one academic year - you can come as an exchange student. Exchange students remain registered at their home university and attend the UvA either through an exchange programme such as Erasmus, Tempus, or ISEP, or through a bilateral exchange between the home university and the UvA.
Exchange students pay tuition fees to their home university and not to the University of Amsterdam. You can contact either the Study Abroad Office at your home university or the department of International Student Affairs at the UvA for information on these bilateral agreements (see link below).
Please note that for certain fields of study there are additional exchange agreements at the faculty level. These agreements are not included in the list of bilateral agreements below. Contact the International Office of the UvA faculty in question to find out more about these agreements. Their contact details can be found under the individual course descriptions, under Courses.
Studying as an independent student
Students not eligible to study at the UvA through an exchange programme can register as independent students and enrol in one of the UvA's certificate courses. Certificate course students register at the UvA and pay tuition fees to the UvA. See the link below for a list of certificate courses.
It is also possible to enrol in a full, English-taught Master's programme. The UvA offers over 80 Master's programmes taught in English. Students of these programme enrol at the UvA, and pay international student tuition fees. See the link below for a list of these programmes.
Class size limits and priority of enrolment
Courses normally have 15 to 20 participants. If a course attracts more students than there are places, students enrolled in the UvA degree programme offering the course will be given priority above other UvA students, independent certificate students and exchange students, unless otherwise stated in the course descriptions.
Transcript
Exchange students are non-degree students. This means they do not receive an academic degree or diploma from the UvA for courses completed while they held exchange student status. They do receive an official transcript indicating the courses taken and credits earned. The credits received should be tranferable to their home university. The study period at the UvA thus officially counts as part of their study programme in their own country, which is why they pay tuition fees to their home university.