Creative Business

Study overview

Year 1

Discover the creative industry!

In your first year, you will lay the foundations. Across four modules, you will gain four different perspectives on the creative industry – from concept to campaign, from audio to business model. You will work on real-world projects, discover where your talents lie, and build your first professional portfolio alongside students from all over the world.

Block A – The Creative Industry in Focus

• What impact does media have on our society? What does the professional landscape look like, from TV and film to events, social media and immersive experiences? And what is expected of a Creative Business professional? In this block, you will explore the playing field that will be yours over the next four years.

Block B – Digital Thinking and Storytelling

• UI/UX Design Thinking: You will learn how to design digital products from the user’s perspective. This involves analysing a problem, thinking in terms of solutions and working towards a concrete digital concept.
• Publishing: How do you tell a story that sticks in the mind? You will write content for publication on a platform such as a magazine or online, learning to use storytelling as a professional tool.

Block C – Reaching Your Audience

• Audio Production: creating your own podcast or audio production from concept to recording! You will research your target audience, work with professional audio techniques and learn why audio is one of the fastest-growing formats in the industry.
• Marketing & Social Media: How do you ensure that an idea, product or brand stands out in a saturated market? You will develop a marketing plan, learn how to reach target audiences and use social media strategically – not as a user, but as a professional.

Block D – Production & Entrepreneurship

• AV Production: You will create your first audiovisual production. From script to camera work, through to editing and visual storytelling. You will learn how to manage a creative production process and connect with your audience.
• Finance & Business: What actually makes a creative project a commercial success? You will develop a business model, pitch an idea and work with budgets. The combination of creativity and entrepreneurship is exactly what the industry is looking for.

Years 2, 3 and 4

After year 1, the main phase begins. Below you can read more about the course content of each year. 

Year 2

In year 2, you will step into the professional world. Rather than textbook exercises, you will be working on challenges set by real clients. Working both in teams and independently, you will learn how to develop a creative concept into a professional end result and how to market it strategically.

But Creative Business is a management programme. That means you do not just focus on what you create. You will also learn how to manage the process: deadlines, budgets, team dynamics and stakeholders. That’s the playing field you will learn to navigate in year 2.

Four projects, four perspectives

• Entertainment Project: You will create and test two entertainment formats that respond to a current challenge. This involves collecting data, analysing behaviour and translating those insights into creative media concepts – thinking and creating, all at once.
• Social Impact Project: Media has the power to inform, inspire and provoke thought. In this project, you will work on media prototypes centred on a current social issue, aiming not just for reach but also for real impact.
• Innovation Project: New media technologies. AI, immersive media and interactive formats are rapidly transforming the industry. In this project, you will actively engage with these developments and develop an innovative concept that addresses a realistic professional challenge.
• International & Intercultural Project: You will collaborate with an international partner on a media idea, service or strategy that resonates with people from different cultural backgrounds. This is Creative Business in its most international form, and exactly the reality of the industry you will soon be working in.

Your role changes every block

With every project, you take on a different role. Not randomly – this is a deliberate part of the programme's design, ensuring you get to know all sides of the professional field and discover where your energy truly lies

• Project Manager: You maintain an overview, lead the team and monitor the schedule and budget.
• Content Coordinator: You determine what is communicated and how, across all media platforms.
• Product Coordinator: You ensure that media production meets the required standards in terms of quality and operational efficiency.
• Marketing & Communication Coordinator: You ensure that the project reaches the right people, at the right time, via the right channel.

You switch roles after each block. By the end of year 2, you will have experienced every role and know exactly which one suits you best.

Years 3 & 4

Year 3 – Your path, your choice

In year 3, you take the wheel yourself. For the first time in your studies, you largely decide for yourself what your year will look like. That choice has a direct impact on where you’ll end up in the industry.

Two paths, one goal

Each semester in year 3, you choose between two options:

• On campus. Creative Collective: You will work on your own ‘passion project’ as well as a client project, entirely according to your own vision and direction. There’s no set brief from a lecturer. You define the problem; you decide on the approach. In addition, you will actively continue to build your professional portfolio through the Career Path project.
• Off campus. You will enter the industry via a placement, or complete a minor or an exchange programme with one of our more than 35 partner universities worldwide – from Indonesia and South Korea to France and Spain. A placement is compulsory in year 3, but you choose whether to do it in the first or second semester. This flexibility is intentional: it allows you to tailor your study path to your ambitions and interests.

What does year 3 give you?

By the end of year 3, you will not only have specialist knowledge, but you will also have chosen your own professional direction, built up a portfolio, and demonstrated that you can operate independently in the creative industry. This is exactly the preparation you need for what lies ahead.

Year 4 – Your proof to the industry

Year 4 is where it all comes together. The knowledge, the skills and the professional identity you have built up over the past three years are transformed in this year into a concrete, individual outcome that you take with you into the industry.

Blocks A & B – Preparation for your Graduation Project

Before you begin your Graduation Project, you will undertake two preparatory projects to get you ready for what lies ahead:

• Context Quest: You will identify a professional challenge you wish to tackle and develop your own project proposal. This isn’t a set assignment; you decide what’s relevant, for whom, and why.
• Navigating Methodologies: You will design your own research approach. How will you go about it? Which methods suit your project? This course gives you the tools to tackle your Graduation Project in a professional and well-founded manner.
  Alongside these courses, in year 4 you will also work on the Creative Collective: a group project at graduation level, serving as your final exercise before going it alone.

Blocks C & D – Graduation

This is the moment. 30 ECTS credits, one individual project bearing your name. You choose your own graduation format:

• Standard format: You develop a professional media product or strategy for an external company. From a marketing campaign to a documentary for a cultural institution.
• Own Company format: You work on your own business. You develop a business plan, a prototype or a launch, and take your first real step as a creative entrepreneur.
• Academic Research format: You carry out an independent research project in collaboration with BUas’ R&D department. A perfect choice for students who want to delve deeper and are considering progressing to a master’s degree.

How will you be supervised?

You will not be working alone. Throughout your Graduation Project, you will have a lecturer to guide you through the process, a subject specialist and an external industry adviser. A panel comprising two internal assessors and one external industry expert will assess your final result, ensuring that your work is measured against genuine professional standards.

What happens next?

Our graduates work at Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Google and Samsung. Others have set up their own production companies or creative agencies. 31% now hold leadership positions and more than 10% are entrepreneurs. Year 4 isn’t the end of your degree programme; it’s the start of your career.

Placement

In year 3, you will undertake a placement with a company in the creative industries. You decide when to do it – in the first or second half of the year – so that you can tailor the placement to your study path and ambitions.

Our students do placements at companies in over 30 different sectors, both nationally and internationally. From major media companies to creative agencies, from tech firms to cultural institutions. Examples of placement positions our students have secured:

• Social Media & Content Marketer at Hunkemöller
• Audio/Video Producer at Banijay Benelux
• Marketer at Omroep Brabant
• Producer at Radio 538
• Volumetric Producer at 4DR Studios
• Interaction & Service Designer at Hatch
• Digital Marketing, PR & Branding at Butternut Box

The strongest proof that you are ready for the industry? The fact that some students receive a job offer straight after their placement. 

Exchange

Studying abroad is the perfect opportunity to push your boundaries. You build up an international network, learn a new language, and gain insight into intercultural differences. BUas works with universities all over the world, so as an exchange student you have plenty of options. Some examples are: 

• Bournemouth University (UK)
• Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, USA)
• Hanyang University (Seoul, South Korea)
• Ehrvervaskademiet Lillebaelt (Denmark)
• University of Vic (Spain)

Minor

With a minor, you choose for yourself: do you want to specialise in your field or broaden your knowledge? You can take a minor at BUas, but you can also choose to do a minor at another Dutch university of applied sciences, or even abroad. 

Pre-master

In your final year of study, you may choose to attend the academic pre-master's track in [nhtv:strSBMM] (SBM). This pre-master will give you direct access to Master of Science programmes at top universities such as Maastricht, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Antwerp (B), and Warwick (UK). You can also move on to our university master's degree in Leisure and Tourism Studies. This way, you can earn a university master's degree in just five years – or even in four years, through the accelerated (three-year) track.

Teaching method

At Creative Business, you do not learn from a textbook. You learn by creating, presenting, failing, adjusting your approach and trying again. Just as it works in the creative industry.

Small groups, personalised guidance
Creative Business is a small-scale programme. This means your lecturers know you not as a number, but as a budding professional. They see where you are at, what you need, and provide guidance where it matters most. Most lecturers have active connections with the industry through their own projects, networks and guest lectures.

Block structure
Your programme is structured in blocks of nine to ten weeks. Each block combines theory with a practical project, often for a real company or organisation. You learn something and apply it straight away. In this way, you build up your knowledge, your portfolio and your professional network all at the same time. At CB, you will be supervised on each project by lecturers with diverse backgrounds, such as marketing, production, communication and business, all at the same time. This is no coincidence. It gives you a taste of how the industry really works: integrated, interdisciplinary and constantly evolving.

International from day one
Almost half of our students come from abroad, representing more than 50 countries. 60% of our lecturers are international. English-language lessons, international projects and intercultural collaboration aren’t just an option at Creative Business – they’re the norm.

What do you use in practice?
You will work with the same professional tools and facilities that you will find in the industry: from Adobe Creative Suite and Final Cut Pro to a fully equipped TV studio, radio studio and an Extended Reality (XR) Stage. BUas is the first university of applied sciences in Europe with a full-scale XR Stage and the only Creative Business programme in the Netherlands that offers access to it.

Study load and coaching

Creative Business is a full-time programme worth 60 credits per year. This amounts to an average of 40 hours a week, but those hours feel different from what you might be used to. You’re not cramming for exams. You’re creating, collaborating and building your portfolio.

Most students complete their work during the day. Regular independent study time is built into your timetable, with lecturers available to provide guidance. No large, anonymous lecture theatres, but a Media Lab where you work, receive feedback and develop your skills.

What does a week in year 1 look like?

A typical week

Monday: 

• Morning: Masterclasses and workshops on campus
• Afternoon: Working in the Media Lab on campus

Tuesday: 

• Independent study on campus or at home 

Wednesday: 

• Morning: Masterclasses and workshops on campus
• Afternoon: Working in the Media Lab on campus

Thursday: 

• Morning: Working in the Media Lab on campus
• Afternoon: Masterclasses and workshops on campus

Friday: 

• Morning: Working in the Media Lab on campus
• Afternoon: Independent study on campus or at home 

Study coaching
You take control of your own development during your studies. The program is designed for this. You can follow your own path and train your leadership skills. A study coach will guide you, and for projects, you will always receive a briefing and have an expert supervisor to help you.

Student well-being
BUas encourages and helps you to make the most of yourself, whatever your circumstances. Maybe you have a chronic illness, are a family carer, a competitive athlete, or juggle your studies with running your own business? Our study coaches, student counsellors and student psychologists are here to help. Do you need extra support or advice? Or extra facilities? Then take a look at the options here.

Field trips and excursions

At Creative Business, internationalisation is in the programme’s DNA. As well as your optional exchange in year 3, there are several ways to gain international experience during your studies.

Excursions
Every year, students go on excursions to leading events and organisations in the creative industry. Examples include the IBC Conference in Amsterdam, one of the world’s largest trade fairs in the fields of broadcasting, AI, VR and interactive media. This offers direct exposure to the technologies and professionals shaping the industry.

Blended Intensive Programme (BIP)
A BIP is a short, intensive collaborative programme in which you work alongside students from partner universities in various countries on a joint challenge for a real-world client. Recent examples include projects with universities in Antwerp, Vienna and Turkey, as well as collaborations with organisations such as UNESCO and Mondelez.

Placement or minor abroad
In year 3, you can choose to undertake your placement abroad. Alternatively, you have the option of taking a minor at one of our partner universities worldwide, from South Korea to Spain.

Study track after havo, vwo or hbo

After pre-university education (vwo) - fast-track

Are you currently doing VWO want to kick-start your career sooner? As a VWO graduate, you can complete your full bachelor’s degree in Creative Business in three years, finishing a year earlier than your fellow students.

That saves you a year’s tuition fees and a year of your time. Time you can invest in your first job, your own business, or a master’s degree.

What does the three-year programme for VWO graduates look like?

Years 1 & 2 – Full immersion in Creative Business

In the first two years, you will attend an intensive programme covering all the core competencies of Creative Business. You will learn how to create, produce and market media products in an international environment, alongside students from over 50 countries.

You will work on real-world projects in the Media Lab. In year 1, you will work on assignments set by your lecturers. Before long, you will be working for real clients. And as you progress through your studies, you will have increasing freedom to decide what you create and for whom.

Courses covered in years 1 and 2:

• Marketing & Communication: The strategic and creative aspects of how brands communicate with their audience.
• Production: From pre-production to post-production of audiovisual content. How do you create something that looks professional and works effectively?
• Content & Digital Concepts: How do you recognise good content? How do you develop digital concepts that reach and resonate with people?

Alongside the course content, you will also develop your personal leadership skills over these two years – a deliberate part of our track for VWO graduates – so that you are not only technically competent but also professionally strong when you enter the industry.

Year 3

The third year consists of two intensive phases.

• First half – Creative Collective. You will work on campus in a group on your own project, supervised by lecturers. This is your direct preparation for graduation. You will practise at graduation level before going it alone.
• Second half – Graduation. You will complete your studies with an individual Graduation Project at a company of your choice. This involves a professional media product, strategy or research project, bearing your name, assessed by a panel of internal experts and an industry professional.

Ready to apply?

Apply via Studielink and select: Creative Business (English-taught / VWO track, 3 years)
Do you have any questions about the three-year track ? Send an email to [email protected]. We will be happy to help.

After a propaedeutic certificate (professional or academic)

If you have already completed a propaedeutic year at another Dutch Creative Business course (with the same CROHO number 35516), you may submit a higher-year request via Studielink. There is a good chance that you can start in the second year of the course.

Mhbo-track after higher general secondary education (havo)

Have you almost finished your higher general secondary education (havo) but are you in doubt about a direct transfer to higher professional education? Then we have a solution for you: an mhbo track. Together with De Rooi Pannen, BUas offers a programme that allows you to obtain a secondary vocational education (mbo level-4) diploma and a higher professional education (hbo) diploma in your field of interest in five years!

If you are thinking of continuing your education in the tourism, media or events sector, take a look at this option: Mhbo Tourism | Leisure | Creative Business.

You attend this level 4 programme at an accelerated pace at De Rooi Pannen in Tilburg or Breda. After two years, you will obtain your secondary vocational education diploma and have a choice of three professional bachelor’s programmes at BUas. Here you will enter in the second year: 

• (professional) bachelor’s programme Creative Business
• (professional) bachelor’s programme Leisure & Events Management   
• (professional) bachelor’s programme Tourism Management

This means that you have a little more time to discover your talents: you do not have to choose your higher professional education programme until your second year.  

More information (only available in Dutch). 

Entrepreneurship

At BUas, you develop your entrepreneurial skills in all programmes. You can also join BUas Startup Support (BUSS), where you attend networking meetings and receive guidance from a startup coach. 

Would you like to graduate with your own company? You can do that at any academy, although a selection procedure may apply. Whether you are already generating revenue or just have an initial idea, BUas Startup Support will help you.  

Read more about starting your own business.