Educational institutions and study programmes

Aruban educational institutions and study programmes

Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and study programmes there are in Aruba. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised. We check the recognition to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We give the necessary information per educational sector.

Secondary education | schools

There are 2 types of secondary schools in Aruba:

public schools; and
private schools.

Public schools

Public schools offer secondary education (EPB, MAVO, HAVO and VWO) in Aruba:

EPB schools (Scol pa Educacion Profesional Basico) offer EPB (Diploma Educacion Profesional Basico).
MAVO schools (Scol pa MAVO) offer MAVO (Diploma Middelbaar Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs).
HAVO and VWO schools (Scol pa HAVO-VWO) offer HAVO and VWO (Diploma Hoger Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs/Diploma Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs).

Private schools

There are 2 private schools in Aruba:

De Schakel Aruba;
International School of Aruba (ISA).

De Schakel offers education for a Dutch secondary education diploma, and International School of Aruba offers education for an American high school diploma.

Checking recognition of schools

On the Department of Education Aruba website, you can check whether a school is recognised for EPB, MAVO, HAVO or VWO:

Go to: Scolnan na Aruba (schools of Aruba).
For an overview of EPB schools, you have to click on ‘Scol pa Educacion Profesional Basico (EPB) y Intermedio (EPI)’ and then on ‘EPB’.
For an overview of MAVO schools, you have to click on ‘Scol pa MAVO’.
For an overview of schools for HAVO and VWO, you have to click on ‘Scol pa HAVO-VWO’.

Please note: the 2 private schools are not included in these overviews, because these schools offer education for a Dutch diploma or an American high school diploma.

For De Schakel, you should check whether they it meets the requirements in the Netherlands: Secondary education | schools.
For the International School of Aruba, check whether they it meets the requirements in the US: Secondary education | high schools.

Higher education | educational institutions

There are 2 higher education institutions in Aruba:

the University of Aruba (UA) offers profession-oriented and research-oriented programmes in various fields of study.
the Instituto Pedagogico Arubano (IPA) offers teacher-training programmes.

Please note: there are also private higher education institutions in Aruba. You can find more information about higher education institutions on the Department of Education Aruba website.

Checking the recognition of higher education institutions

Only the UA and the IPA are officially recognised in Aruba. Only these higher education institutions receive subsidies from the government.

Please note: for this reason, private higher education institutions are not recognised in Aruba. If the website of a private institution states that it is recognised in another country, please check whether the institution meets that country's requirements. For the United States, for example, there are requirements for institutions as well as for study programmes, please see:

Higher education | study programmes

On our Aruban higher education webpage, we describe the various study programmes offered by the UA and the IPA. We do not describe study programmes offered by private institutions, as these institutions are not recognised in Aruba (and as a result, neither are their study programmes).

Checking the quality of higher education programmes

Aruba has no organisation for accreditation. The UA and the IPA can ask the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) to issue advice about the quality of their programmes. Please note that this is only advice from the NVAO, not an accreditation.

You can find more information on the NVAO website:

University of Aruba (UA);
Instituto Pedagogico Arubano (IPA) (in Dutch only).