Joint degrees and collaborative degrees

In a joint degree programme, you are enrolled at two or more universities and take courses at two or more universities. You can also use all the facilities at the participating universities. One university organises the enrolment of the programme, the main institution.

You submit a request for (re)enrolment to the main institution via Studielink and complete your application via that university. The enrolment is then automatically exchanged with the other university or universities. You are then fully enrolled at two (or three) universities. You do not have to do anything for this yourself. You will automatically receive your login information for the other university(s).

Please note that enrolment information is not shared until you are fully enrolled at the main institution. This can be important if you want to register for courses at the partner institution. You will not have access to that until your enrolment is also registered there. Therefore, you must first complete your enrolment with the main institution.

The VU offers joint degree programmes in cooperation with the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Protestantse Theologische Universiteit (PThU) and Leiden University (LEI). The table below tells you at which university you must complete your (re)enrolment.

* Please note: An exception applies to this application process. For the Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, you apply directly via the Amsterdam University College application form. You can find more information via the AUC website. 

Application for the Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences is via the AUC application form. You can find more information via the AUC website. 

Please note: Automatic enrolment does not mean that you are automatically registered for courses and exams. Registration deadlines may differ between institutions. You can only register for courses once your registration is complete. Most compulsory courses are administered by the main institution. This means that you do the course registration there and you use that institution's Canvas. For some subjects, you have to register with the partner institution and you use Canvas from that institution.

VU

At VU, you must arrange your course registration via the registration module. You can find the VU registration deadlines here. You cannot register for courses at VU until your registration is complete.

PTHU

Registration for PThU courses is also done via the VU's registration module.

UvA

The UvA's registration deadlines are very different from those of VU. Therefore, for courses at the UvA, as a VU student (main institution VU), you will be manually enrolled for compulsory courses in the first semester of the first year. To take courses, you register for your subjects via GLASS from the second semester onwards. More information can be found on the UvA website.

EUR

You can register for courses and exams at EUR via the study information system OSIRIS. On the EUR website you can find more information about registration and deregistration deadlines for exams.

LEI

Within the EMPO programme, we collaborate with Leiden University. For subjects in Leiden, you have to register yourself, both for compulsory subjects and electives, via MyStudyMap. More information can be found on the Leiden University website.

Grades you obtain within the UvA-VU collaboration are automatically shared. You do not need to take any action yourself to do this. For other collaborations or if a course is not part of your Joint Degree programme (extra-curricular), the grade may not be exchanged. The grade can then be registered for inclusion in your programme if you submit a certified grade list to the main institution. Only after approval from the examination board will the grade be processed. At the VU, you can request permission using this form.

You will receive a different account at all the universities where you have an enrolment. After completing your registration, you will automatically receive your login details from the other university or universities. 

Note: You will receive information from all the institutions involved, which can be confusing, as you will not see the information relevant to you all in one place. You will also receive some information that is not relevant to you. Make sure you especially monitor the communication from the main institution. 

Email

Your VU email account can be found in your profile. You can easily log in via your dashboard.

Once your registration with the main institution has been completed and the registration has been passed on to the partner institution, you will also receive a login code from that institution to log in to Canvas, your schedule, the registration module and your email account at the partner institution. 

Course schedule

The schedules from VU and the other institutions can be synchronised with your private calendar on your phone. See for instructions rooster.vu.nl and the websites of the other institutions. This way, you have insight into the timetables of all courses scheduled at both locations. 

Student card

You receive a student card for every university you are enrolled in for a full-time programme, so for both (or all three) universities that offer your Joint Degree.

Library and sports facilities

In addition, you may use all facilities of the main institution and partner institution(s), such as student counsellors and psychologists, the library and sports facilities.

Are you an international student and do you require the accommodation and visa services of the university? Then this is done via the main institution. Please keep in mind the conditions that apply.

When you arrange your re-registration and have to do so at the university that did not arrange your accommodation or visa in previous years, nothing extra needs to be done. Re-enrolling at the other university does not affect your visa and housing contract.

The university that initially applied for the residence permit remains the referent for the IND throughout your studies.

Joint degree students receive a diploma from the main institution. The diploma lists all the educational institutions of the joint degree. It also states in DUO that the degree was offered by two universities.

If you terminate your enrolment with the main institution via Studielink, your enrolment in this programme will be terminated simultaneously at both universities.

Cooperating degree programmes are collaborations between individual study programmes of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam. There is no main institution, like with a joint degree. You can choose at which university you complete your application. You will then have a regular enrolment with one university and be enrolled as a secondary subject student at the other. 

For the programmes listed in the table below, you will be automatically enrolled. In other cases, you will have to register as a secondary subject student yourself. The table below shows the agreements for 2024/2025.

Honours students can also get a registration as a secondary subject student at VU to be able to make use of their honours offer.

Please note: Automatic enrolment does not mean that you are automatically registered for participation in courses and exams. Please note that registration deadlines may differ between institutions. You cannot register for courses at the partner institution (with additional course registration) until your registration at the other institution is complete. The course description in the study guide tells you where to register. This means that you also use the Canvas of that institution.  

VU 

At VU, you must arrange your course registration via the registration module. You can find the VU registration deadlines here. You can only register for courses at the VU once your enrolment is complete.  

Please note: As a secondary subject student, you do not have access to the extra-curricular subjects at VU. If you do want to take a subject or minor outside the registration module on offer, please contact the VU Student Desk, which can refer you to the Education Office of the faculty. 

UvA 

The UvA's registration deadlines are very different from those of VU. Therefore, as a VU student (secondary subject registration at the UvA), you will be manually registered for some courses at the UvA for compulsory courses in the first semester of the first year. To take courses, register for your courses via GLASS from the second semester onwards. More information can be found on the UvA website. 

Grades you obtain within the UvA-VU collaboration are automatically shared. You do not need to take any action yourself. For other collaborations or if a course is not part of your programme (extra-curricular), the grade will not be exchanged. The grade can then be registered for inclusion in your programme if you request a certified transcript of grades from the partner institution and submit it to your own institution. Only after approval from the examination board will the grade be processed. At VU, this can be done using the form on this page.

Canvas

You will receive an account at both VU and the UvA. Once your enrolment in the programme has been completed and this has been shared with the partner institution, you will also receive a login code from that institution to log in to the Canvas, the timetable pages, the enrolment module and your email account at the partner institution. 

Email

Your VU email account can be found in your profile. You can easily log in via your dashboard. 

Please note: you receive information from both institutions, which can be confusing because you do not see the information relevant to you all in one place. You also receive a lot of information that is not relevant to you. Make sure you especially monitor the communication from your own institution (registration as a student).  

Schedule

See instructions at rooster.vu.nl and rooster.uva.nl. This will give you insight into the schedules of all subjects timetabled at both locations.

Student card

You will receive a student card from the university you applied to. Because you have a secondary subject application at the other institution, you will not receive a student card from that institution. If you do need a student card from VU, because you have been granted facilities or special access, apply for a pass as an external student and mention your special situation and registration through the cooperating programmes.

Library and sports facilities

You cannot make use of all the university facilities as a secondary student. At the VU University Library, you can apply for a pass as an external studenyt with a valid email address from the other university and a valid ID. 

Are you an international student and do you require the services of the International Office regarding housing and getting your visa? Then arrange this through the university where you have a regular enrolment. Pay close attention to the applicable conditions.

You will receive the diploma from the institution where you applied. The collaboration may be mentioned on the supplement (ACASA, ACTA).

If you terminate your enrolment via Studielink, your enrolment in the programme at the partner institution will also be terminated. 

You submit your application for the programme B Mechanical Engineering or B Creative Technology in Studielink at UT. You can opt for the VU-UT variant. If you are enrolled at the UT for one of these programmes in the VU-UT variant, you will mainly follow courses at the VU. You will automatically be registered as a secondary student at VU when your enrolment at UT is completed.

University of Twente

Are you an international student and do you want to make use of the visa/residence permit service of the university? Then you can arrange this through the UT. Pay close attention to the applicable conditions.

As an international student, it is possible to make use of the VU housing arrangement. You can apply for this via a UT form.

You register for courses and exams via Osiris. You log in with your UT student number and UT password. More information about registering for courses within your programme can be found on Canvas, more information about the registration periods can be found here.

If you want to register for electives and minors, there are a number of VU minors and electives to which you have direct access. For other VU minors and electives, you have to ask permission to include them in your programme.

At the VU, you must arrange your course registration via the registration module. The VU registration deadlines can be found here. At the VU, you can only register for courses once your enrolment is complete.

Please note: As a secondary subject student, you do not have access to the extra-curricular subjects at VU. If you do want to take a subject or minor outside the registration module, please contact the Student Desk, which can refer you to the Educational Office.

Grades you obtain within the UT-VU cooperation are registered in Osiris-UT. You do not need to take any action for this yourself. For a VU course that is not part of your programme (extra-curricular), the grade will not be exchanged automatically. The grade can then be registered for inclusion in your programme if you request a certified grade list from VU and submit it to the UT. Only after approval of the examination board will the grade be processed. Your results obtained for the courses at VU will automatically appear in Osiris.

Canvas

You will receive an account at both VU and UT. As soon as your enrolment in the programme has been completed and this has been exchanged with VU, you will receive a login code there too. You will only use VU Canvas if you are going to take courses at the VU, for example, if you are going to do a minor in the third year.

Email

You will receive information from both institutions and this can be confusing, as you will not see the information relevant to you all in one place. You will also receive some information that is not relevant to you. Make sure you especially monitor the communication from UT.  

Your VU e-mail account can be found in your profile. You can easily log in via your dashboard.

Course schedule

Your timetable can be found on two locations: rooster.utwente.nl and rooster.vu.nl. On rooster.vu.nl you can only see the course schedule at VU, so this does not give a complete overview. You can add your timetables from both institutions to your personal calendar for a complete overview.

Student card

You will receive a student card from both VU and UT and have access to the buildings and facilities of both universities.

Facilities

You may use all VU and UT facilities such as student counsellors and student psychologists, the library and sports facilities. It does depend on the exact guidance from student counsellors at which institution you should be.

You will receive a diploma from UT on which VU is also named. The graduation ceremony will take place at VU.

If you terminate your enrolment via Studielink, your enrolment in the programme at the partner institution will also be terminated.