Most common route to master's degree costs 148 thousand euros

The route most students take at university to get their master’s degree cost 148 thousand euros in 2012. This is the standard route including failing classes and delays. The shortest possible route to a master’s is the nominal route, which costs 13 thousand euros less.

The amount consists of spending by government, the private sector and households on institutions providing education, for instance on tuition fees, salaries and the mentoring of working and learning setups.

Spending per diploma 2012*

Delays occur mostly in the final phases

The big difference between the standard and shortest route students can take takes place at the university itself. The difference is still minimal during the secondary school stages. Students are finishing their studies faster though. For instance, one in four students who started university in 2009 to get a bachelor’s received their degree within three years. In 2002 just one in six students did so. About a third of the students on track for a master’s graduated within the time it takes theoretically.

Length of study by the route to graduation, 2012*

Hugo Elbers