TU Delft quality agreements

Summer 2019, the Minister of Education approved the TU Delft Quality Plan. At TU Delft, the funds from the Student Loans (Higher Education) Act will primarily be used on teaching staff in order make it possible to maintain the quality of our education – and especially the intensive, small-scale teaching methods used at TU Delft – even in the face of increasing student numbers.

When the Student Loans (Higher Education) Act was introduced, it was agreed that the funds released would be invested in education quality. In anticipation of this, TU Delft has already been investing its own resources since 2015. In 2015 and 2016, this was €6 million a year, and the University increased it to €8 million annually from 2017. With the approval of the participation bodies, almost all of the funds are being invested in intensive, small-scale education by increasing teaching capacity. For the years 2019-2024, TU Delft has also already set a figure of approximately €8.5 million annually to be invested on a structural basis, most of it to be spent on permanent staff.

The universities have agreed with the Minister of Education, Culture and Science that they will make quality agreements for the period 2019-2024. They will also determine how they will use the funds from the Student Loans (Higher Education) Act. The agreements focus on six key themes formulated by the Minister and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and approved by the Dutch National Union of Students (LSVb) and the Dutch National Student Association (ISO):

1. More intensive and small-scale teaching (programme intensity)
2. More and better supervision of students
3. Study success
4. Educational differentiation
5. Suitable and high-quality teaching facilities
6. Further professional development for lecturers (quality of lecturers)

At TU Delft, almost all of the investments for the years ahead will be made in the appointment of permanent teaching staff. This will provide a boost for themes 1, 2 and 3. The first additional funding under the Student Loans (Higher Education) Act is not expected to become available for new investments until 2021. The allocation plan for these funds has not yet been determined – apart from the fact that they will contribute to the six themes – in order to make it possible to respond to the situation at that time. In due course, faculties will be able to make proposals on how these funds should be deployed on a structural basis. This is because they are best placed to assess what their degree programmes and students need most at any given time. In addition, the Executive Board and participation bodies have agreed that some of the funds will be set aside on an annual basis for an investment fund to be used for temporary project proposals. This will ensure that all student councils (which change every year) will have an annual project budget with which to invest.

You can read the complete quality plan here.

You can also read more about the pre-investments in the 2018 Annual Report.