NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Speciality : Tourism & Hospitality
programme: International Hospitality and Tourism Management

I am a first-year student from Germany currently studying International Tourism Management in Leeuwarden, where I moved in August. Despite never having visited the city before, it has exceeded my expectations. Leeuwarden strikes a perfect balance for students: it’s vibrant yet manageable. Everything you need—whether it’s the city center with its diverse shops, restaurants, bars, and cafés, the train station, or even your friends’ homes—is accessible within a 20-minute bike ride.

The International Tourism Management program itself is dynamic and well-rounded, offering an excellent blend of academic and practical learning. The curriculum includes classes such as Financial Administration, Professional Communication, and PPD (Personal and Professional Development), which focuses on fostering personal growth and career skills. One of the program’s strengths is its emphasis on group work. Students are divided into smaller classes and then into groups for collaborative projects, allowing for extensive interaction with peers from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. This diversity adds a rich and engaging layer to the experience, though it also comes with challenges, such as navigating different approaches and communication styles. Teamwork, adaptability, and compromise are essential skills for success in this environment.

Time management is another crucial aspect, as balancing multiple deadlines, meetings, and assignments requires careful planning from the very beginning. The program encourages independence and self-discipline, as students are expected to prepare for classes and work on projects outside of scheduled hours. At times, especially during the winter when the weather is gloomy and daylight is limited, staying motivated can be a challenge. However, the program’s international environment, with students and coaches from various countries, provides fresh perspectives and makes learning truly enjoyable.

Overall, studying International Tourism Management in Leeuwarden has been a rewarding experience so far. The combination of a supportive student-friendly city and an engaging, multicultural program makes it an excellent choice for anyone passionate about tourism and global connections.

Don’t fall for Marketing. It’s a de-organised institution that doesn’t seems to get on track no matter how much time is passing. I have never seen this level of de organisation, especially since NHL Stenden is a Dutch university after all and this country is renewed for the organisation. In my country this could not be a legal higher educational institution, I am not sure how this can work. Trust me, you cannot comprehend (if you are not familiar with this “university”) what a mess it is. Unfortunately, I wasted too much time in my life and money. You can find real, superior universities in the rest of the NL and Europe. This shouldn’t even exist in a normal setting.

I can’t believe how unorganized NHL Stenden is. I graduated this year and still didn’t receive my bachelor’s certificate because I need to pick it up in person! I’m an international student and how can they expect be to be there in person if I already work fulltime in another country?

Besides that, I studied at one of their partner universities for 3 years and then transferred in my fourth year to NHL Stenden (it’s how the study program works). When it was time to transfer to NHL Stenden at the beginning of my fourth year it was a complete disaster. No one knew what to do. All the different departments within NHL don’t communicate. I had to run after them! Even though they are the ones offering this study program. Lol.
When I finished my fourth year they let me know that some of my grades are missing in progresswww (online portal for grades). They acted like it was my fault but in reality, I passed everything and also had proof. It took 2 months of running after them to finally fix my grades!!!!
In the end they corrected everything but let me tell you it was a massive headache.

Over the months, we wrote numerous emails regarding complaints from multiple students about the organization of the school, but each time we don’t get a decisive answer or they won’t speak and resolve their issues.
The administration takes several weeks to process a single document! Although courses are promoted well, they have little market value since they are not relevant to careers after completion of the course. It took them ages to publish grades, surprisingly, they failed many other students because the more you stay, the more you pay!

I study Hospitality Management. I cannot recommend this university at all. The teachers are not real teachers, most of them are without pedagogic diplomas, and some of them even without any form of high education. They sent me in exchange and I had to sent them a Learning Agreement 27 times. Every time they would tell me something different about what needed to be in. A total joke. Is like the university departments don’t know about the existence of each other. Please, listen to my advice when I tell you that you could easily find a better university in the Netherlands or Europe. The quality of the studies is also really questionable because of the laziness of the so-called teachers of NHLStenden.

I highly recommend having a look at NHL Stenden offer of studies as they recently launched a new system called DBE, design-based education, which basically lets you learn at your own pace, in teams and from industry challenges.

NHL Stenden recently introduced Design Based Education system, which differs a lot from the previous Problem Based Learning education system. This was, according to the students’ feedback: a disaster. The new education aims to empower more the students, which could sound positive, although many negative points are not taken into consideration. The whole semester relies on a Design Challenge that aims to provide a client (real industry partner), with solutions for its problem, the Project Team in this way will be focusing on this for 20 weeks, but if the challenge will embrace only a particular field, they will be forced to forget about the others, which makes the program less wide.
This is just small anticipation.
Feel free to contact me in case you are interested in further feedback about NHL Stenden educational shift!

Absolutely amazing abroad opportunities and with a hotel of the university to learn the practical part of the study. International environment and last year is a year of internship which creates a lot of job opportunities

I did the hospitality and tourism study at Stenden University. The university offered a good variety of practical and theoretical classes. Moreover, the balance of theoretical classes was nice: lectures and small groups of only 12 persons. In that way, individual support could be given as well.

International environment. Great opportunities abroad.
During the study, there are possibilities to do some part of your studies abroad. The school is nicely arranged with good facilities for students.