Report: Higher education dishonest about job prospects

Higher education institutions often give prospective students too positive or even inaccurate information about the job prospects awaiting them following the completion of a study program, according to a study done by intercity student association ISO, AD reports. ISO looked at 45 popular and big study programs at universities and colleges across the Netherlands. In half of the cases, the information on job prospects was incorrect. In about a quarter of the cases, information about job opportunities and success rate was hard to find on the institution's website. For example, the site for the Communication Science program at the University of Amsterdam states that their is a good chance of finding work in this field. In reality, only 31 percent of graduates found suitable employment in the 18 months after completing the program. That gives the program one of the worst scores among scientific programs. Another example is the Business Administration course in Groningen. The website states that this course has a better chance of finding work than other MBA's, but the research the school cites for this is more than five years old. "It is in everyone's interest that students start a program aware and informed", ISO president Linde de Nie said. According to her, study programs' sites often look more like an advertisement than anything else. "Because of that, students do not know the whole story. Study programs have the responsibility to provide good information and stimulate an informed choice. We call on institutions to take immediate action as this is currently not the case." A report by Keuzegids and Decaan.net, published last month, came to the same conclusions. First year students have until May 1st to register.