Study progress requirements
If you are an international student with a Dutch residence permit for the purpose of studying, you are required by law to meet a degree progress requirement. To keep your residence permit, you are required to obtain at least 50% of the possible ECTS education credits per year for your study programme. You need to meet this requirement each year that you study at Maastricht University (UM). This rule does not apply if you participate in an exchange programme.
Per academic year: 30 ECTS credits
For all programmes, the number of ECTS credits per year is set at 60. If you are enrolled in a programme as a full-time student, you must therefore obtain at least 30 ECTS credits each academic year to fulfil the legal requirement. Additionally, some degree programmes have a Binding Study Advice for first-year students. Please contact your programme’s study adviser if you have doubts about the study progress requirements for your programme.
Per semester: 15 ECTS credits
If you are enrolled in a programme for only part of the year, you will need to obtain 50% of the total number of ECTS credits for that semester. For instance, if you start your programme on 1 February, the number of ECTS credits is set at 30 between 1 February and 31 August (the second half of the academic year). To meet the study progress requirement, you need to obtain 50% of those 30 credits, which is 15 credits.
Preparatory programmes
If you are enrolled in a preparatory programme (such as the pre-medical or foundation programme), you must pass this programme to maintain your residence permit. If you fail, your residence permit will be revoked and you will not be able to apply for an extension to your residence permit for studying at Maastricht University. A preparatory programme is restricted by law to a maximum duration of 12 months.
Your study adviser is here to help
The vast majority of students will not have any difficulty obtaining at least 50% of the ECTS credits. However, there can be extenuating circumstances in your personal life that can influence your academic performance (e.g. death of a parent or a serious illness). If you find yourself in this type of situation, please contact your programme’s study adviser as soon as possible. Your study adviser is here to help you and can advise you on the available procedures and how to best move forward. And everything you say to your study advisor is confidential.
Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)
The university is legally required to notify the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) if you fail to meet the study progress requirement. During the application process, you will be asked to declare that you are aware of the study progress requirement and the consequences if you fail to meet this requirement.
Code of conduct
Maastricht University is a signatory to the Code of Conduct International Student in Dutch Higher Education, which contains agreements regarding the relationship with international students. This includes rules regarding the provision of information to international students.