Some 90% of students graduating from an hbo college get a job within three months – and that goes for 96% of people who have studied to become a teacher, according to a survey by Maastricht University’s labour market research centre.

Most college graduates – 80% – get a job at the appropriate academic level, the research, based on the experience of almost 25,000 students, shows. 

 On average, they earn €3,242 per month and 78% say they have a job that relates to their degree. 

“This survey shows that society is keen to get hold of well-educated hbo graduates,” said college association chairman Maurice van Limmen. 

The challenges facing society – such as the greying population, housing shortage and shift to sustainable energy “call for creative solutions and the professionals educated in our colleges are desperately needed,” he said. 

HBO colleges are known as universities of applied science outside the Netherlands. They tend to offer four-year degree courses and are more practical than theoretical in approach.