Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Bachelor in Digital Society
Maastricht, Netherlands
Bachelor's degree
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 May 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
01 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 2,695 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* EU/EEA-students: 1 May. Non-EU/EEA-students who need a visa and/or residence permit: 1 April
** the institutional fee for this programme is: €13,200
Key Summary
Does this suit you?
- A three-year programme for both creators and thinkers who wish to understand the effects of Generative AI, influencers, and virtual worlds (amongst others) on people and planet.
- Do you like to work and experiment with cutting-edge technologies, such as AI and VR, or with digital media such as podcasts?
- This academic programme is for those who wish to combine creativity, leadership, policy making and a hint of data science in their studies.
We are living in a world where digital technology shapes every aspect of our lives: from social media algorithms influencing beliefs and choices to AI radically transforming industries and jobs. In such a world, the ability to critically understand and responsibly engage with digitalisation is not just key; it will get you ahead of the curve. That’s exactly what you will learn in the Bachelor's Digital Society (BA DS) at Maastricht University.
Our programme provides you with a unique set of knowledge, skills, and mindsets to ensure that you understand digital technologies (such as AI and VR) from the inside out, that you can create (with) them responsibly and ethically, and that you can build ‘bridges’ between different stakeholders (from engineers to designers to policy makers). In short, the BA DS is all about thinking, doing, and caring so as to create a better digital future for people and planet.
As an open and accessible academic community, UM offers several scholarships to support top-performing undergraduate and graduate students with personal development potential that are experiencing financial difficulties to pursue a degree at UM. UM scholarship students function as important ambassadors of the university during and after their studies.UM scholarship students are selected on the basis of their academic excellence, extracurricular engagement, active citizenship and financial need. As the number of scholarships is limited, the selection process is highly competitive.
Courses & curriculum 2025-2026
First year courses
- Bachelor Digital Society, year 1
Second year courses
- Bachelor Digital Society, year 2
Third year courses
- Bachelor Digital Society, year 3
Elective courses
- Bachelor of Digital Society year 3 electives unit of study
Minor
- Minor Gender and Diversity Studies
- Minor European studies
- Minor Globalisation and Development
- Minor Arts and Heritage
- Interfaculty Minor Art, Law and Policy Making
- Minor Great Thinkers: Leading Paradigms of Western Culture
- With this programme, you can become a responsible leader in AI and/or digital transformations.
- The BA Digital Society does not prepare you for one job specifically, but for a future-proof career in the technology industry, in policy making, or in research.
- Most graduates pursue master’s degrees or careers in the direction of humanities, business and economics, or responsible data science.
Bachelor Digital Society graduates have successfully landed jobs in a wide variety of fields ranging from data and AI consultant, to policy analyst and advisor, to software engineer. In their jobs, BA DS alumni are often part of interdisciplinary teams, applying the unique BA DS combination of critical thinking, creative attitudes and collaborative mindset whilst considering the social and ethical considerations of the digital technologies they work with or develop (Think. Do. Care). In general, we have seen most BA Digital Society graduates pursuing careers in the direction of these four personas:
- The tech consultant with an eye for ethics
- The creative leader, with a touch for social and environmental good
- The digital policy maven, with a nose for nuance
- The data detective, with a sense for stories