The Executive Boards of the VU University Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam have agreed to jointly establish the Amsterdam University College (AUC), which will offer a top quality (Honours) liberal arts and sciences Bachelor programme, taught in English.

AUC is a selective liberal arts and sciences Bachelor programme offering interdisciplinary education. Broad-based scientific and social questions are at the heart of the curriculum. Students approach these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, working in international groups. Particular attention is paid to the sciences and to the development of academic skills.

AUC students are selected on the basis of their academic abilities and motivation. Some 200 have been admitted for the 2009-2010 academic year, out of over 400 applications. This level of interest shows that higher education of this kind - selective, intensive and on a small scale - is highly valued by prospective students.

About half of the first group of AUC students come from outside the Netherlands, hold dual nationality or have been previously educated abroad.

The objective is that AUC graduates will qualify for entrance into graduate programmes at top universities around the world. AUC focuses in particular on connecting diversity with excellence in an international and intercultural context, and make full use of its location in the multicultural city of Amsterdam.

AUC students will be ambitious, motivated and internationally oriented, and will be recruited from both within the Netherlands and abroad.

AUC