Courses as electives
With electives, you can use the 30 ECTS at your own discretion. There are only two requirements for your electives. Firstly, the courses must be at an academic level. Secondly, the courses may not substantially overlap with courses in the regular Public Administration programme. You do not need permission to take electives.
You can take electives from other study programmes at the Nijmegen School of Management, other faculties or other universities. It is also possible to combine all three. Click on one of the three blocks below for more information.
Which courses you take and where is entirely up to you. So go and look for what you like and find interesting!
Examples of ways you can choose your courses:
- Choose several courses from another study programme that interest you, for example, Sociology, Political Science or Biology.
- Pick a theme you find interesting, for example, sustainability, healthcare or education. Find courses (possibly from different universities) that relate to this theme.
- Choose a variety of courses to broaden your knowledge in several areas.
What to look for when choosing courses outside the faculty:
- Please consult the study guides for the content of courses and to check whether you meet the requirements. For example, some courses are only possible with certain prior knowledge or to students from a particular course.
- In order to register for a course, you must register in time. The rules concerning registration may differ per faculty and university, so you need to find out how this is arranged at the place where you want to take courses in time.
- Not all RU faculties or other universities work with blocks or with the same Annual Calendar. Check that there is no overlap in your timetable.
- Ensure in advance that your exams do not overlap. For overlapping exams within the Nijmegen School of Management, we have a solution that applies to some cases, see this arrangement, however, it does not apply to other RU faculties or those of other universities. If faced with an overlap, you must choose between the two exams.
Which subjects cannot be taken as electives?
- You cannot take courses at a university of applied sciences as an elective
You can use all courses from university programmes in the Netherlands as electives. However, these courses should not overlap too much with the courses that are part of the Public Administration curriculum. This means that the following courses cannot be used as electives:
- Courses from Research Methods and Academic Skills (M&T subjects that clearly exceed the level of the courses in our curriculum can be taken as electives);
- Courses that support studies, such as writing skills, Dutch, thesis support, etc.
- Introductory courses from related programmes (e.g. Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to Business Administration, Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Law, Introduction to Economics, Introduction to Philosophy, etc.)
- Courses from other programmes that closely resemble subjects from the Bachelor’s in Public Administration (e.g. the Organisation & Management course from the Faculty of Arts).
If you have any doubts about whether you may take a course as an elective, or if a prohibited subject is part of the minor you want to take, please contact the Public Administration student advisor before you take the course.
