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It's safe to assume that WO master's are generally more valuable as WO is - for most fields - considered to be a higher level than HBO. HBO can have an advantage in more practical fields, where a very theoretical WO education might be less suitable.
I did an hbo bachelor and a wo master, in slightly different fields of study, therefore there could be other factors that explain the differences I experienced. But these are the things that stood out most to me: There is a lot more room for discussion in WO, during lecturers but also in exams and papers. WO requires a lot more reading.
Upon completion of the pre-master, the HBO graduate is able to enroll in the target Masters program that the pre-master grants access to. However, an HBO bachelor graduate is able to directly enroll in a 'research' university Masters's degree abroad.
Research university (WO) Higher professional education (HBO) 'Why' 'How' Abstract, analytical skills, theoretical, asking questions. Concrete, practical. The emphasis is on learning to look analytically and critically at the way a certain field can be approached: Higher professional education trains for a specific profession.
Hbo degree programmes have a professional orientation. Wo degree programmes have an academic orientation. Hbo Bachelor's programmes take four years (240 ECTS). Wo Bachelor's programmes take three years (180 ECTS).
⇒ Further education after secondary school (high school): according to level: mbo (ROC), hbo (HAN University of Applied Sciences) or university (Radboud University). After elementary school, children are able to move on to 4 levels of secondary school. From low level to high level: After secondary school: higher education.
The overview below sets out the most important differences between studying at a research university and at a university of applied sciences. Research University (WO) University of Applied Sciences (HBO)
