People ask "what is the best city to study in the Netherlands?" There is no honest ranking we can cite for that, so we will not make one up. What we can do is count. This table comes from our own database, which is built from the DUO register of recognised higher-education programmes.
The count
The 0 research universities and 0 universities of applied sciences in our catalogue are registered in 0 different cities. Here are the cities with the most programmes registered as taught in English or in English and Dutch, with the number of publicly funded institutions in each:
| City | Publicly funded institutions | Programmes registered as English or English and Dutch |
|---|
How to read it: the city is the one the register gives for the institution, so an institution with several campuses is counted once, in one city. The language column only counts programmes where the register states a language. Programmes with no language recorded are not counted, so the real English-taught numbers may be higher.
What the count does not tell you
- Housing. Study in NL says there is a shortage of student housing in many cities and that Amsterdam is more expensive than smaller towns such as Enschede. A city with many programmes is not automatically easier to live in.
- Cost. Study in NL's range for a room is €450 to €1,000 a month depending on the city.
- Subject. The programme you want matters more than the city. Use the programme filters on this site to see who teaches your subject.
A sensible way to choose
- Pick two or three programmes you would actually be happy to do.
- Look at where they are, and what housing help each institution offers.
- Compare rent in those cities using the institution's own housing page.
Sources
Opened and checked on 5 October 2026. Figures that change from year to year are marked "as of October 2026"; check the source before you rely on them.