Choose an economics master’s at VU Amsterdam

With an economics master’s at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you look beyond the numbers and work on the questions that will shape tomorrow.

Do you want to help an organisation reinvent itself digitally? Are you curious what a carbon levy does to equality of opportunity? Or do you want to use models and data to predict how markets respond when the world changes?

Your bachelor’s gave you the foundation. In your master’s you choose what to specialise in. Economics is everywhere: it is not just about money, but about choices, behaviour and the future of our world. At VU Amsterdam you don’t become a standard economist. You develop a sharp perspective of your own, and with it you make a real difference.

What makes an economics master’s at VU Amsterdam distinctive

• Top-level education at the Zuidas: You study within walking distance of the Zuidas business district. With large corporations and innovative start-ups just around the corner, you are in direct contact with the practical world for cases and internships. Ideal for those who want to study in a prime location in Amsterdam.
• International quality: The School of Business and Economics (SBE) ranks among the best business schools in the world: we are in the top 50 for Economics and the top 100 for Management. Underscoring this quality, in 2022 we were the first in the EU to achieve the prestigious dual AACSB accreditation for both Business and Accounting. We see this standard reflected in our alumni, who, as independent thinkers, secure socially relevant positions.
• More than numbers: We believe economics is a human endeavor. Our education is science-driven, with a strong emphasis on ethics and reflective thinking. You learn to look beyond profit maximization and maintain a focus on people, society, and sustainability.
• Personal and engaged: The culture at VU Amsterdam is focused on collaboration and connection ; a place where a diverse mix of students, staff, and professionals immediately feels at home. Through active learning methods, we stimulate your independence, giving you the space and personal guidance to choose your own path.

1. Economics & Society

For the inquisitive policy thinker

Why does one city flourish while another empties out? What does a carbon levy do to the lowest incomes? And how do you keep healthcare affordable as we all grow older? You apply economic theory and raw data to questions that affect everyone, and you learn to make the case for what should happen next.

In Economics you build a broad foundation in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, in classes of around thirty students. In Spatial and Applied Economics you apply that theory directly to one societal domain. The Dutch university guide Keuzegids Masters 2025 named it the best economics master’s in the Netherlands. Within it you choose one of seven specialisations: environmental economics, health economics and management, real estate and housing economics, regional and urban economics, transport and network economics, public economics and policy, or development economics and globalisation.

Fits you if: you have a bachelor’s in economics or econometrics, enjoy sharp analysis and want to put your knowledge to work in policy, research or consultancy.

You learn: to apply economic models to the policy questions on the table right now, set up empirical research and distil complex findings into clear advice.

Your future career: policy officer at a ministry, economist at De Nederlandsche Bank or the European Central Bank, consultant at ECORYS or SEO Amsterdam Economics, analyst at the OECD or the World Bank, or researcher in a PhD position.

Programmes: Economics, Spatial and Applied Economics

2. Business & Management

For the strategist and the entrepreneur

Why does a reorganisation look fine on paper and then stall on the people who have to carry it out? How do you get consumers to make the more sustainable choice? And who is responsible when an algorithm treats customers unequally? In this direction you look at organisations from the inside: at strategy and culture, at what moves people to buy, at how technology overturns a business model, and at the chains along which products reach the shop. You practise on assignments that companies such as Unilever and ING put forward themselves, and ethics is not an elective here but a fixed part of every programme.

Suits you if: you think strategically, get energy from organisations and the people in them, and want to move business forward.

You learn: to develop strategy, understand consumers and markets, manage digital innovation and design smarter supply chains.

Your future career: management consultant, brand manager, change manager, project manager, marketeer or logistics manager, at companies including Deloitte, KPMG, ING, ABN AMRO, PostNL and Heineken.

Programmes: Business Administration, Digital Business and Innovation, Marketing, Transport and Supply Chain Management

3. Data, Technology & Innovation

For the analytical problem-solver

The answer to a waiting list, a traffic jam or an energy shortage is often already in the data, or in a lab where nobody has turned it into a product yet. In this direction you build models that predict what happens when policy changes, design algorithms that optimise schedules, routes and risks, or work on new technology and the question of how it reaches the market. You program, calculate and test, and you learn to explain an outcome well enough for a director to base a decision on it. Two of the three programmes include a longer internship at a company or research institute.

Suits you if: you have a quantitative bachelor’s in econometrics, mathematics, computer science or a science subject, and want to use that knowledge for problems people run into every day.

You learn: to model, optimise and program, and to tell the difference between coincidence and cause.

Your future career: data scientist, quantitative analyst, risk manager, innovation consultant or founder of your own start-up, at companies including Google, Booking.com, KLM, Bain & Company, Accenture, Alliander or one of the Big Four.

Please note: If you have completed a bachelor’s in econometrics, both Econometrics and Operations Research and Business Analytics are open to you. Business Analytics takes two years and asks for 45 ECTS credits in mathematics plus programming experience. Science, Business and Innovation is the science route within this direction: that master’s asks for 45 ECTS credits in chemistry or physics and also takes two years. Check the admission requirements before you choose.

Programmes: Econometrics and Operations Research, Business Analytics, Science, Business and Innovation

4. Finance & Accounting

For the financial specialist

Money flows steer the world, and someone has to account for them. Who carries the risk of the energy transition? Does that sustainability claim in the annual report hold up, and who checks it? And what is a company worth once the market changes course? In this direction you learn to value companies and investments, calculate risk, take annual reports apart and judge the numbers behind a decision. You work with financial statements, market data and cases that genuinely happened, often supervised by professionals from the sector itself.

Suits you if: you work precisely, enjoy financial logic and want to take responsibility for the figures a decision rests on.

You learn: to value and invest, control risk, and see through financial and non-financial reporting.

Your future career: asset manager, risk manager, controller, accountant, auditor, financial analyst or supervisor at a central bank, at organisations including the Big Four, ING, ABN AMRO, De Nederlandsche Bank or the OECD.

Programmes: Finance, Accounting and Control