Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

The Vrije Universiteit university in has location city::Amsterdam, has location country::Netherlands.

The Vrije Universiteit should not be confused with the University of Amsterdam. The name is often abbreviated as VU. It is the university of the Vereniging VU-Windesheim, which also encompasses the Christelijke Hogeschool Windesheim, and was formerly known as the Vereniging voor Christelijk Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs (Association for Christian Scientific Education).

The association was founded in 1880, and headed by founded by::Abraham Kuyper, as the first Protestant university. Vrije Universiteit literally means Free University to signify freedom from government and church. The education itself, however, is not free of cost; like all accredited universities in The Netherlands students pay a (government determined) fee, while students receive a student loan from the government as well.

About 17,000 students (2004) attend the university, with 2,200 scientific employees, and 1,600 non-scientific employees.