Why a campus formula? 

There is a lot to choose from in the Netherlands when it comes to courses. This certainly also applies to colleges.

Nearly half a million students are currently studying at the 36 government-funded colleges in the Netherlands. Two out of three students in higher education are pursuing higher vocational training (hbo). More than 55,000 people fall under the collective labor agreement for higher professional education concluded by the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. The universities of applied sciences are geographically spread throughout the Netherlands. With the more general courses they offer, the colleges want to provide a basis for a well-educated labor market in their own region. In addition, courses are offered with a more specialized nature. These specialized courses in turn have a (inter)national appeal to students. It goes without saying that high-quality education has a lower limit in terms of the number of students. And that lower limit in turn creates competition between universities of applied sciences.

Universities of applied sciences therefore ensure that in addition to the quality of education, the quality of the campus is also as high as possible. This has led to the campuses becoming increasingly uniform, based on a 'best practice idea'. The quality therefore increased while the distinctiveness actually decreased. The challenge now is to make the campus distinctive and therefore even more attractive.

And an attractive campus also ensures that other parties that feel at home in the higher education environment (both service providers and companies that collaborate with educational institutions). Other educational institutions (both university and MBO) are also increasingly seeking proximity to a university of applied sciences.  

Where the identity of the college is central to the educational program, with the gathering of different parties on a campus that identity is no longer leading but appropriate. The campuses increasingly have their own identity based on the unique qualities of the location and the associated stakeholders.

With the development of its Nordic Campus formula, NHL Stenden has its own strong approach to (further) developing a recognizable campus that suits NHL Stenden at different locations, with different stakeholders. This website describes the Nordic Campus formula as well as the results of that approach at the various locations where it has been applied since 2021.