Master programs and postgraduate courses in the Netherlands are specialization programs for graduates with bachelor's or master's degree but also men and women who are already working and want to improve their preparation through a path of higher education organized by the Dutch universities and business schools. These courses are also addressed to boys and girls interested in a life experience and study in Holland to know more about the history and culture of this country, or to students and young professionals who want to acquire specific skills.
The second semester is usually the starting period of university master programs. Those postgraduate courses are attended by graduates and young professionals after graduation, bachelor or master degree, to complete their specialization. These programs are addressed to men and women, boys and girls interested in a course starting in September or October, more rarely in November or December, and almost never in the summer, in July or August. The students of these master prgorams follow the lectures from the second half of the year, because very often in the months before they took part in a preparatory course.