Maastricht University (officially abbreviated as UM) is a public university in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Founded in 1976, the university is the second youngest in the Netherlands. The university's founding name was Rijksuniversiteit Limburg and was changed into Universiteit Maastricht in 1996. Since 2008 the name is Maastricht University, which the university claims will emphasize the international character. Maastricht University has over 14,400 students, 43% of whom are foreign students, and over 3,900 employees. About half of the bachelor's programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught wholly or partly in Dutch. Most of the master's and PhD programmes are in English.