Take excellence to the next level by digging into the advanced academics that VU Amsterdam has to offer. This highly competitive program, available only in the Spring semester, allows you to complement your coursework with honors courses from a variety of themes. Honors courses are interdisciplinary, small seminar-style courses which emphasize student discussion. You'll study alongside degree-seeking international and Dutch students for an integrated experience. A Spring-Extended option is available for students who want to earn additional credits.
VU Amsterdam is a highly competitive program. Students applying for this program will be waitlisted for admission, and will know their acceptance decision no later than October 15. We encourage you to work with your CEA CAPA Student Advisor to identify a backup program option.
Amsterdam
late Jan 2026 - late May 2026
$23,195
12 - 15
9/15/25
10/15/25
3.5
1 Year of College completed prior to program start
Some courses may have prerequisites.
By choosing the Honors Program, you will apply for specific honors courses and electives during the Spring semester. The semester is divided into block periods. You will choose one VU Core Honors course and one VU elective course for Period 4 and one VU Core Honors course and one VU elective course for Period 5. You may also choose to add on a Dutch Culture course, for 3 US credits, that spans over Periods 4 and 5. If you enroll in the Honors Spring-Extended program, you will add another elective course in Period 6. Enrolling in the extended option allows you to stay an extra month in Amsterdam.
Elective courses are taught during the day and Honors Core courses are taught in the evenings. Classes generally meet Monday – Friday. Active learning components required by courses may be scheduled any day of the week. Classes are not necessarily offered on the same day each week.
If you enroll in the Spring program, you will enroll in 12-15 credits. If you choose the Extended semester option, you will enroll in 15-18 credits. Courses are generally awarded 6 ECTS credits, which transfer to 3 US Credits per course.
Prior to departure, you will select your preferred Honors courses. Acceptance into each Honors course is determined by a committee at VU Amsterdam. You are required to submit a Motivation Letter for each Honors course you wish to enroll in. There is no guaranteed placement in the Honors courses.
Students will need to select two alternative elective courses for each Period. It is in your best interest to have multiple alternative courses approved by your home university prior to your departure due to course availabilities. Please consult with your academic advisor at your home university on credit pre-approval guidelines. Registration for all classes will take place before you arrive on campus, so you will have your finalized schedule in place early.
Academic accommodations are available at VU Amsterdam for students who provide documentation from a psychologist or health care provider. Policies at VU may differ from those available at your home university. Please contact CEA CAPA directly if you will be applying for academic accommodation so that we can connect you with the correct application procedures.
Students receive a transcript from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam upon completing the program.
The host institution has offered the following courses in the past. Please note that course listings will not be finalized until the start of the term.
*Courses with an asterisk indicate that the course has been associated with multiple subject areas.
Please click on the course title to view additional subject areas and detailed course information.
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Future Entrepreneur - Period 4+5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rebuilding Education - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Illness, Image, Metaphor: Cancer in Public Discourse - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robust Timetabling for Railway Systems - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brain and Behavior - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sacred Scapes - The City and Beyond - Period 4 * | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Accounting Information Systems- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Accounting I-Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Financial Accounting - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Quantitative Research Methods III - Accounting and Marketing - Period 4 * | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Contesting Images - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Biochemistry - Period 4+5 * | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Accounting, Business and Society - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Advanced Simulation for Finance, Economics and Business - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Business Intelligence and Analytics- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Business Research Methods - Qualitative - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Business Statistics- Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Consumer Behavior- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Digital Innovation and Virtual Organizing in a Global Setting- Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
IBA LAB I - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Behaviour and Communication in Organizations - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Document Design - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Spoken Language and Gesture - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Automata and Complexity- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Computer Organization - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Machine Learning for Econometrics and Data Science - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Software Design - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Discover Dutch: Language & Culture | 100 | Ot | 84 | 3 |
Imagining the Dutch: Themes Dutch History | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Econometrics II - Period 4+5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Econometrics III- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Macroeconomics I - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Mathematical Economics II - Period 4+5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Mathematical Economics III - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Microeconomics II - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Operations Research II - Period 4+5 * | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Operations Research III - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Public Economics - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance - Period 4 * | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Data Engineering - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Discourse Analysis- Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Early Modern Literature and Ecocriticism - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Literature and Globalization - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Literature in a Changing World 1 - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Asset Pricing - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Financial Markets and Institutions- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Beyond Gender Inequalities - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
European History 1800-present- Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
History of Knowledge- Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
The History of Collecting and Exhibiting (1500-present) - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
The Maghreb in Global History - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Communication Cultures - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Dyslexia - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Foreign Language Teaching - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Language Change - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Metaphor in Professional Settings - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Competition Law- Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Corporations, Conflict and International Crimes- Period 4 | Graduate | En | 84 | 3 |
European Consumer Law in a Digital Society- Period 4 | Graduate | En | 84 | 3 |
Fundamental Rights in Europe- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Human Rights Protection in Europe- Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
International Intellectual Property Law - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
International Weapons Law - Period 4 | Graduate | En | 84 | 3 |
Migration and Legal Remedies - Period 4 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Foundations of Strategic Management- Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Leading Organizational Change - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Managing People: A Global Perspective - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Social Media Analytics - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Literature in a Visual Culture 1 - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Narrativity in the Media - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
New Media Challenges - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Modern Philosophy - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Philosophy of Mind - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Philosophy of Science - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
From Quantum to Molecule - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
History of Political Thought- Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Emotion and Social Cognition - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Sensation and Perception - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Stress and Health - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Comparing Theologies and Philosophies of Religion - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Exegesis New Testament - Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Exegesis Old Testament - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Hebrew I + Old Testament - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
History of Christianity - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Religious Myths and Rituals - Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Challenges of the 21st Century- Period 4 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Confronting Commodity Chains - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Towards Better Care and Welfare: Let's Stick Together - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Global Supply Chain Management- Period 4 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Procurement and Supply Management - Period 4 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
International Development - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robot Law - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Statistical Evidence - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Music: Listening and Philosophy - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Drugs that Alter Your Mind: Neuroscience, History, and Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelics - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thinking and Emotions - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Accounting- Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Auditing-Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Management Accounting - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Anthropology of Religion - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Toxicology and Drug Discovery - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Structure Biology - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Differential Privacy and Statistical Inference under Differential Privacy - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
IBA LAB II - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Improving Planetary Health: A Learning Lab for Social Entrepreneurship - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
International Business Law - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Small Business Development - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Discourse and Social Interaction - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Globalisation and Localisation - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Morphology and Semantics - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Persuasive Communication - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Science Communication for Researchers - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Visual Rhetoric - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
AI & Society: Fixing Algorithmic Decision Making - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Big Data in Biomedical Sciences - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Computational Intelligence - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Computer Networks- Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Fair, Transparent and Interpretable Machine Learning - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Information Management for CS - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Logic and Modelling - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Text Mining for AI - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Economics and Management of Organizations-Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Environmental and Transport Economics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Monetary Economics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Literature in a Changing World 2 - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Corporate Finance - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Corporate Finance: A Sustainability Perspective - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Finance I- Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Financial Econometrics- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Inclusive Growth and Sustainability- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
International Financial Management - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Investments - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
International Public Health (BMED) - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Pathophysiology of Heart and Circulatory System - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Risk and Health Communication - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
History of Social Science - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
World History 1800-Present - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Language Testing - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Life Writing - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Psycholinguistics - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
World Heritage and Conflict - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Documentary Film, International Law & World Politics- Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
EU Anti-Discrimination Law - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
International Labour Law: Multinational Corporations in a Globalizing World - Period 5 | 400 | En | 84 | 3 |
Law and Ethics on Robots and Artificial Intelligence - Period 5 | Graduate | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Management Consulting and Strategic Change - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Managing and Improving Quality - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Strategic Management from a Practice Perspective: A Day in the Life of a CEO - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cross Cultural Marketing- Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Digital Marketing and Metrics- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Global Marketing Innovation - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Value Based Marketing - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Introduction to Statistics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Literature in a Visual Culture 2 - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Behaviour and the Brain part 1: Addiction - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Continental Philosophy- Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Metaphysics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Philosophy and Ethics - Period 5 | 200 | En | 42 | 1.5 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cognition and Emotion- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Cooperation and Competition- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Human Resource Development - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Molecular Genetics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Comparative Religious Ethics - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Dogmatics - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Global Religion- Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Hebrew II + Old Testament - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Hinduism - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
History and Theology of Evangelicalism - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Judaism - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Religious History and Present of Low Countries and Amsterdam - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Empowering People for Societal Changes - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Global Sustainability Analysis - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Sustainable Energy: Biomass and Biofuels - Period 5 | 200 | En | 42 | 1.5 |
The Human Dimension of Sustainable Development: From Ideal to Reality - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Course Name | Level | Lang | Hours | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Contemporary Theology - Period 5 | 300 | En | 84 | 3 |
Introduction to Systematic Theology - From a Peace Church Perspective - Period 5 | 100 | En | 84 | 3 |
Practical Theology - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Theology and Spirituality of Calvin - Period 5 | 200 | En | 84 | 3 |
Interested in taking your career to the next level?
*Housing options may change and will be confirmed on the housing application form prior to the start of the term. Below are the housing options that have been offered in the past.
Get out and explore! Excursions are offered for most semester, year, and summer programs. Semester students are typically offered between two to three excursions and summer study students are typically offered between one to two excursions. You'll receive a calendar of excursions during orientation; here are a few day and overnight excursions we've offered in the past.
From housing to excursions, our programs include a variety of inclusions to enhance your study abroad experience! Here are examples that may be available in Amsterdam. Inclusions vary by program – please contact our Enrollment and Advising team to find out what options are available for you.
The calendar for this program is coming soon; please check back later.
The sample budget is unavailable at this time. Please check back later or ask your CEA CAPA Admissions Counselor/Site Specialist for a comparable program's sample budget.