Fontys University of Applied Sciences is a Dutch university of applied sciences, located in the southern Netherlands. It has over 44,000 students in several campuses. The three largest Fontys campuses are located in the cities of Eindhoven, Tilburg and Venlo. The name Fontys comes from the Latin word "fons" which means "source". Thus, Fontys wants to highlight that it is a source of knowledge for students. Fontys offers 200 bachelor's and master's study programmes in the fields of economics, technology, health care, social work, sports and teacher training. A selection of these programmes is offered in German and English. In the independent Dutch ranking known as Keuzegids, Fontys is among the top-ranked large universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. In 2014, former Fontys Chairperson Nienke Meijer was declared as the "Most influential Woman of the Netherlands".
Ranking
On a regular basis, Fontys University of Applied Sciences is among the top-ranked universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Here, Fontys scores above-average results in the study fields of engineering, IT, logistics as well as business administration and management (consisting of the study programmes International Business (IB), Marketing Management (MM), and International Finance & Control (IFC).
The ranking is done annually by the Centre of Higher Education Information and published in the Keuzegids HBO. It takes into account the perspectives of experts, students and universities themselves. Next to factors such as student satisfaction with their university's lecturers and study content, student success rates, IT facilities and practice-orientation the ranking is based on the accreditation reports of the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO).
All Fontys study programmes are accredited by the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO) or equivalent British accreditation bodies.
About 11% (4,798) out of the 44,486 Fontys students come from abroad; they represent more than 70 countries around the world, with a large delegation from Germany. Many of these international students are enrolled as exchange students or degree students in English-taught bachelor and master programmes, often offered in cooperation with Fontys’ partner universities in other countries.
Campuses
Fontys campuses are equipped with computer rooms, libraries and student restaurants. Wireless internet is available throughout the campuses, enabling students to bring their laptop. In this way students can work, study, search for information whenever they want. The Student Facilities department at Fontys University of Applied Sciences offers advice and support about financial affairs, course-related matters, practical matters, sports facilities and student associations, supervises during the course of studies and provides information about events relating to the study process.
Eindhoven
Fontys International Campus Eindhoven is located in the South-East of the Netherlands.
Tilburg
Fontys has three locations in Tilburg.
Fontys International Campus Stappegoor is located on the southern outskirts of the city. The campus population consists of diverse students, ranging from Economics students to Software engineering students.
Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts (Dutch: Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten – FHK) groups all educational programs in the visual and performing arts under the same roof in a building known as the Kunstkluster ('Art cluster') located in the centre of the city.
The Fontys Academy of Journalism (Dutch: Fontys Hogeschool voor Journalistiek – FHJ) is located in the Professor Gimbrèrelaan, in the west of the city, and is one of the four journalism schools in the Netherlands.
Venlo
Fontys Venlo is a young campus with an old history. At first, the Venlo University of Applied Sciences was established on the grounds of the former country estate De Wylderbeek (whose forest still contains protected artifacts from Roman times). In the late 1990s, the institution joined the growing Fontys network. Several renovations and expansions helped the campus buildings ("which were originally build by a congregation of nuns in 1965") remain "state of the art on the inside and outside". Today, the campus houses three institutes: Fontys Teacher Training Academy (FHKE), Fontys University of Applied Sciences for Technology and Logistics (FHTenL) and Fontys International Business School (FIBS).