Admission requirements

The admission requirements for academic year 2025-2026 for the master’s programme in Public Policy and Human Development depend on your previous education. Please check below which requirements apply to you.

Graduates from Maastricht University

Graduates from the following bachelor’s programmes from Maastricht University qualify directly for admission:

• Bachelor's programme in Econometrics and Operations Research
• Bachelor's programme in Economics and Business Economics
• Bachelor's programme in International Business
• Bachelor's programme in Global Studies

Graduates from other universities

The Board of Admissions will consider your application file and decide whether to admit you.

During the application process for this study programme you will need to complete a number of tasks for which you will often have to upload documents. The list below gives you an insight into what documents you will (and might) need to prepare.

Required documents (all in English) for all applicants to this study programme

• A recent passport picture
  This picture must satisfy certain requirements. You can find these requirements in the task description 'Upload portrait photo' in the MyApplication portal.
• Copy of your passport or your EU/EEA identity card
  Make a copy of the page with your personal details. Save this copy as ‘passport copy’ and not as ‘passport picture’.
• A recent copy of your CV
• Two recommendation letters from current or former professors and/or employers. In addition to uploading the recommendation letters as a PDF in the MyApplication portal, they also must be emailed directly by your referees to info-governance@maastrichtuniversity.nl. 
• Copies of your diploma(s) and grades transcript(s) (If necessary, translated into English by an official translation agency)
• A motivation letter (400-500 words) that explains why you chose this programme and which convinces the Board of Admissions that you will complete the programme successfully
• An essay (1000 words in Word/PDF with searchable text) on one of the topics below. (Make sure the essay really covers one of these topics and that you title the essay properly with the topic and question as stated below)
  Please note:
  • The problem presented in the essay does not reflect the policy problems studied in the MPP, nor does it determine in any way the specialisation you will study. For an understanding of the type of policy problems in which you can specialise in the MPP, please refer to the description of the specialisations.
  • Your essay will be submitted to a plagiarism check. Note that plagiarism leads to an automatic rejection of your application. If you are uncertain about how to properly use references, please refer to the online tutorial "What is referencing?".
  • Your essay needs to comply with the requirements mentioned above. Note that essays submitted without references and/or written on a different topic than the one requested, lead to an automatic rejection of your application

Documents that might be required depending on your (academic) background

• Document(s) that demonstrate your proficiency in English
  Answer the questions concerning language requirements under ‘Language requirements for English-language master programmes’ on this webpage to find out if you need to provide additional documentation. The outcome of your answers will indicate which documents you can use to prove your proficiency.

Based on the documents you have submitted, the Board of Admission decides whether to admit you. They need about four weeks to review your application. After that, our Student Affairs Office will inform you about their decision via email. The sooner you submit your documents, the quicker we can inform you.

Note: Only complete applications will be assessed. We therefore recommend that you adhere to the deadlines provided in the table under ‘Important deadlines for application on this page.