The quality of university programmes is regularly evaluated by national and international accreditation organisations. 

NVAO quality certificates UM has been granted to prestigious quality certificates by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO): 

NVAO Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment The ‘Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment’ focuses on university-wide internal quality assurance for study programmes. The six-year, university-wide accreditation means not only that UM has first-rate education, but also that it is supported by an overarching system that ensures the continuous high quality of the curricula. 

For this certificate, NVAO evaluated, among other things, the quality assurance system, the planning and control cycle, the way in which programmes are improved, the governance and organisational structure, and how the process of university decision-making promotes the quality of education.

NVAO Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation In 2013, UM was awarded the NVAO’s Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation. This accreditation is for six years and is an external acknowledgement of the university’s efforts towards internationalisation. According to the NVAO, internationalisation is ‘in UM’s DNA’.

The following programmes have been awarded the NVAO Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation:

School of Business and Economics

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences

Dutch & European Quality Certificates for Internationalisation A number of programmes from Maastricht University have been awarded the 'Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation' from the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). For this quality feature, NVAO uses the Frameworks for the Assessment of Quality in Internationalisation that were created by the European Consortium for Accreditation in Higher Education (ECA).  The ECA is the first quality assurance agency to assess the quality of internationalisation in compliance with current international quality assurance practices. Once a programme is awarded the NVAO quality feature, they can apply for the ECA Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation.

The following programmes have been awarded both the NVAO Distinctive Quality Feature for Internationalisation and the ECA Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation (View the full ECA report) :

School of Business and Economics

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences

NVAO quality certificate ‘small-scale and intensive’ The University College Maastricht bachelor’s programme at as well as the master’s programme in Forensic Psychology received the special NVAO quality label 'small-scale and intensive'.

NVAO quality certificate for the excellent achievement level of its graduates In 2008, University College Maastricht was the first to receive an NVAO quality label for the excellent achievement level of its graduates. It is an exceptional additional certificate, on top of the regular accreditation, for programmes that excel in a specific area. Only two higher education programmes have been awarded this label.

'Triple crown' of accreditations The Maastricht University School of Business and Economics is internationally accredited by the renowned AACSB (American), EQUIS (European) and AMBA (UK), making it part of an elite group of international schools with all three accreditations. This means that graduates of the school can take their degree anywhere in the world.