Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Bachelor in Global Studies
Maastricht, Netherlands
Bachelor's degree
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 4,465 / 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: €18,400
Key Summary
About: Global Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht University, uses Problem‑Based Learning (PBL) to train you to tackle complex global issues. After an introductory semester you'll study five themes—environment & economy, migration & citizenship, tolerance & beliefs, peace & justice, and 21st century learning—plus research methods, skills, a possible field study, and an interdisciplinary bachelor’s thesis with a real-world intervention for an NGO, government, firm, or school.
Career Outcomes: Graduates work as policy makers, advisors on global health and ethics, researchers/consultants, corporate or government trainers, teachers or school leaders, such as migration or environmental analysts.
Global Studies trains you to understand and develop solutions for complex global issues. The programme is structured around five themes, each of which spans a semester of investigation from multiple disciplinary perspectives:
- Environment & Economy
- Migration & Citizenship
- Tolerance & Beliefs
- Peace & Justice
- 21st Century Learning
The themes are preceded by an introductory semester that sets the basis for your explorations to come by giving you insight into the field of global studies. Within each semester theme, your learning about specific content is complemented by courses on research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and skills (academic, professional, and global citizenship skills), which you will use to dive deeper into thematic content. In your final year, you will put your expertise to the test with the option to pursue a one-month local or international field study, and all students write an interdisciplinary Bachelor’s thesis while simultaneously developing an intervention for a societal problem presented to you by an NGO, government agency, firm or a school. Throughout the programme, you will also have the opportunity to teach your fellow students… and sometimes even external partners!
Courses & curriculum 2025-2026
Year 1
- Semester 1: Introduction to Global Studies
- Semester 2: Environment & Economy
Year 2
- Semester 3: Migration & Citizenship
- Semester 4: Tolerance & Beliefs
Year 3
- Semester 5: Peace & Justice
- Semester 6: 21st Century Learning
Elective courses
- Language Classes
- Minor Gender and Diversity Studies
- Interfaculty Minor Art, Law and Policy Making
- Minor Human and Legal Decision-Making
- Minor Entrepreneurship
- Minor Sustainability
- Get ready to develop professional, academic, and global citizenship skills that support diverse professional pathways.
- Learn how to collect, analyse, and represent data—essential for many future studies and jobs.
- Be prepared for an increasingly complex and challenging world.
As an open and accessible academic community, UM offers several scholarships to support top-performing undergraduate and graduate students with personal development potential who 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.
Possible professions upon completion of your degree include:
- Policy maker on global issues (climate change, migration)
- Advisor on global health risks for companies and governments
- Ethics advisor for companies operating globally
- Researcher/consultant for public, non-profit or private sector on migration, environment, cultural diversity, peace
- Corporate and government training schemes
- Teacher, director of secondary schools