Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Tilburg

At the heart of the green campus of Tilburg University, a nurturing environment is created that allows international students to develop into critical thinkers, concerned citizens and academically educated professionals. 

This beautiful place, our University College Tilburg makes studying a truly unique experience. Our students choose to specialize in Law, Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Humanities or Cognitive Neuroscience.

Liberal Arts and Sciences is a small scale and intensive program for highly ambitious people. The program teaches students to approach complex global issues for example: poverty, health and environment, migration, war, refugees, tolerance and geopolitics – to name a few, from different scientific angles and work on creative solutions.

What to expect?
In the first year, students explore a wide variety of subjects within different scientific disciplines. In doing so, they discover what kind of academic path they truly wish to pursue.
In the second year, they will choose a major and specialize in one of five disciplines:

• BSc Business and Economics
• BA Law in an International Context
• BSc Social Sciences: Human Behavior
• BA Arts and Humanities: Past – Present - Future
• BSc Cognitive Neuroscience: Brain and Cognition

In addition to this major, they choose a minor. 

A minor can be in a different scientific field to that of the major, giving the student the opportunity to broaden their knowledge. 

They can also choose to pursue their minor in the same scientific field as their major to further deepen their knowledge in that specific area.
Minor courses can be followed at Tilburg University, at another research university in the Netherlands, or abroad during an exchange semester.

Exchange

University College Tilburg has many international exchange partnerships, respected universities in all corners of the world. Students can spend a semester studying at any one of these institutions. Spending up to six months in a different country will be the experience of a lifetime – and one that is highly valued by prospective employers.

Emiel Gieles
Major Business & Economics

“The broad set up and the options to choose your own direction is what really appeals to me in the Liberal Arts and Sciences program. Handling cases from different perspectives has always been interesting to me. I chose the major Business & Management since I am really interested in management and strategy within smaller organizations as well as economics at the micro and macro level. 

"I have recently returned from my exchange in Madrid to specialize in Entrepreneurship and Business Intelligence, and would like to pursue a master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship.”

Career Prospects

Students will graduate with an internationally acknowledged BA or BSc degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a specialization that qualifies them for a range of Master's programs and careers in that area. Employers worldwide appreciate that they are both generalists and specialists and that they can take an interdisciplinary approach to most complex issues.

Most of our students continue towards a Master's degree after completing their Liberal Arts and Sciences degree. Some of our alumni start their career, go travel or do an internship.

Master’s Programs of our alumni 

Here are some examples of master’s programs of our alumni:

International Business Law

Law and Technology

Victimology and Criminal Justice

Economics

Strategic Management

Organization Studies

Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience: Neuroeconomics

Data Science: Business and Governance

Environmental and Bio-Resource Management

International Relations and Diplomacy

Social Psychology: Work and Organizational Psychology

Human Aspects of Information Technology

Religion, Literature & Culture

Art, Media and SocietyPeace and Conflict Studies

Cognitive Neurosciences

International Humanitarian Action

Environmental Economics

European Studies

Arts and Culture

Contemporary History

Media Culture

Political Sciences

International and European Law

Youth Studies

Sociology: Migration and Ethnic Studies

International Peacekeeping

Ikram Rhioui

Job: Product & Community Manager With Locals (www.withlocals.com) 

“Liberal Arts and Sciences has provided me with the best way to kick start my career as a young professional! After finishing my bachelor I started working at a start-up and noticed how valuable interdisciplinary skills are when it comes to tackling complex issues together with colleagues and other stakeholders.

"I also appreciate it that this bachelor’s degree allowed me to nurture friendships with so many cool & smart individuals, be it students or lecturers, by having a small and close community.

"My advice for current liberal arts students? Don’t worry about the future, you’ll find out soon enough how highly appreciated your set of skills is by lots and lots of people.”

Why study Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Tilburg?

• Awarded Dutch 'Top Program' label for 4 consecutive years; 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018.
• Innovative Team Teaching sessions, two professors from different scientific background teach the course together, discussing the subject in class.
• Become part of a classroom with people from different nationalities and cultures from all over the world
• Several practical options to prepare students for life after Liberal Arts and Sciences. Whether they follow up with a master’s program, start a career or become an entrepreneur, the transition should run smoothly.
• Student association Extra Muros organizes many academic, cultural and social activities for the community of University College Tilburg.
• Tilburg is the least expensive student city in the Netherlands

Inclusiveness at UCTilburg

"As an institution dedicated to critical inquiry, we are committed to examining any kind of prejudice, and to creating space for voices that, for no good reason, are less heard. We see it as our task to ensure that imbalances of power, for instance between people of different gender, sexual orientation, color, class, cultural or religious background, age, or (dis)ability, are not replicated within the university, but are actively countered.

How to define these imbalances of power and how to counter them will be a topic of ongoing discussion, and will be a consideration whenever decisions are made to recruit new faculty and students, to form committees, to design the curriculum, to compose a syllabus, to invite speakers, and to put together academic panels.”

Find out more about the Liberal Arts and Sciences program at University College Tilburg:

https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/education/bachelors-programs/liberal-arts-and-sciences/