Honors in the Master’s: A New Perspective?

Authors

Stan Van Ginkel, Wageningen University
Pierre Van Eijl, Utrecht University
Albert Pilot, Utrecht University
John Zubizarreta, Columbia College

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Published in Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Fall/Winter 2012, Volume 13, Number 2

Comments

Copyright 2012 by the National Collegiate Honors Council

Abstract

In Europe, there is a growing interest in honors education, not only in the bachelor’s but also in the master’s degree. The Dutch government, for instance, is actively promoting excellence in both bachelor’s and master’s degrees through honors programs (Siriusteam). Most Dutch universities have honors programs at the bachelor’s level or are developing them. Some universities have also recently introduced honors into their master’s programs, stimulated by recent publications (van Eijl, Wolfensberger & Pilot). Because honors master’s programs are a new phenomenon in higher education and are still exceptional in the United States of America, we have undertaken a research project to study them (van Ginkel & van Eijl).