Koning Willem I College was founded to prepare students for the practical demands of the workforce. What began as a regional institution serving 8,000 students has grown into a dynamic community of more than 20,000 learners across multiple locations, each with expectations shaped by a digital-first world.

As industries transformed through technology, vocational education evolved alongside them. Students no longer compare their college experience solely to other institutions, but to the seamless digital services they use every day.

In 2014, the college adopted Mendix to gain greater control over its application landscape and accelerate innovation from within. That decision marked the beginning of a decade-long transformation journey — one that would see the student app evolve through five major versions, multiple architectural shifts, and a complete redesign of both web and mobile experiences.

This long-term commitment culminated in January 2026 with the latest version of the student portal — a unified digital environment designed to simplify academic life, connect systems behind the scenes, and give students a more intuitive way to manage their education.

Upgrading IT on Campus

Educational institutions today operate in an increasingly complex environment, shaped by evolving regulations, constrained budgets, and rising expectations for seamless digital experiences.

Like many colleges, Koning Willem I College found itself navigating a fragmented IT landscape that slowed innovation and delayed the digitalization of internal processes. Systems operated in silos, and delivering new functionality often required long design, testing, and release cycles. The need for a unified, future-ready foundation became clear.

“We wanted to create a central information and services platform for all users, not just students,” shared Juul de Louw, an information manager at Koning Willem I College.

After evaluating several options, Koning Willem I College selected Mendix to modernize its application landscape. Its flexibility, mobile capabilities, rapid time to market, and built-in architectural security made it a natural fit.

“In the past, new functionality could take a long time to design, test, and release. With low-code, that process has become much faster and more agile, and that’s one of the key benefits we’ve experienced,” de Louw shared.

As early adopters, Koning Willem I College enlisted one of Mendix’s first partners to help the college train and adopt the nwq ecosystem. At the same time, they invested in internal capability, training two developers initially and growing to three full-time Mendix specialists.

One of them, Joris van Dinther, brought experience in Java, .NET, and C#, but developed his Mendix expertise entirely on campus — a reflection of the college’s commitment to learning by doing.

“Users across the college — students, teachers, and staff — appreciate the way the IT department can respond so quickly now,” he said.

“That ability to deliver effective change is something users truly value. When a request comes to IT, the response is no longer “maybe later,” but “yes, we can do that,” added de Louw.

A Decade of Continuous Evolution

With a clear vision for a centralized digital platform, Koning Willem I College faced a pivotal decision early on: buy an off-the-shelf solution or build one tailored to its needs.

Commercial products promised speed, but they lacked the flexibility needed to support the college’s long-term vision. Rather than accept those limitations, Koning Willem I College chose to take ownership.

In February 2015, the college initiated a formal tender to deliver a new platform and architecture aligned with its Microsoft-powered backend. Just months later, version 1 went live.

In its first year alone, 6,000 students and 1,000 teachers and administrative staff adopted the new app. For the first time, schedules, attendance records, grades, and administrative requests were brought together through a centralized SQL-based data layer. A web application and hybrid mobile app formed the foundation, supported by secure integrations with LDAP, OData services, and SAML behind the scenes.

From there, each release marked a deliberate step forward:

• In 2017, version 2 introduced a refreshed user interface and an upgrade to Mendix 6, improving usability while maintaining the hybrid mobile approach.
• By 2020, version 3 expanded the app’s functionality, including the addition of results, and strengthened its technical backbone with Mendix 7, OAuth 2.0, and RESTful APIs. The architecture became more flexible, preparing the platform for future scalability.
• In 2022, version 4 marked a structural shift. Alongside the desktop application, the college launched its first native mobile app built with Mendix 8. The introduction of dark mode and the Atlas design framework modernized the experience, even as differences between desktop and mobile highlighted the next opportunity for refinement.

As adoption grew, the app became embedded in daily campus life. Features such as single sign-on, push notifications, “Top News” updates, deep links to external systems, and profile management transformed it into a central digital touchpoint.

“This became a valuable learning experience not only for us, but also for the further development of Mendix itself,” emphasized de Louw.

Behind the scenes, the architecture matured as well. What once relied on a single large data API transitioned into approximately 18 dedicated microservices, creating a more efficient and scalable foundation not only for the app, but for other solutions across the college.

In January 2026, Koning Willem I College introduced version 5, built on Mendix 9. This release represented a complete redesign and refactoring of both the desktop and mobile applications. Developed in close collaboration with Mendix Expert Services and students from the college, it delivered a consistent user experience across platforms and a renewed digital identity that fully reflected the institution.

For van Dinther, the journey reinforced the value of ownership. “Because we built it ourselves, we understood every layer of the platform,” he said.

The Collective Learning Experience

At Koning Willem I College, education extends far beyond the classroom, and that philosophy shaped its digital transformation.

“It’s not just about the technology, but the culture around it,” said de Louw. “In 2015, we started with the simple goal of making information more accessible.”

That mindset defined the development of the student portal. Rather than building in isolation, the team actively involved end users throughout the process. Students provided feedback, tested functionality, and helped shape the user experience from the ground up.

Internships became a natural extension of this approach. “We introduced Mendix within the IT academy so students could learn what low-code development is and how to work with it. Mendix became part of the curriculum. And on our side, we used it to build the platform,” de Louw shared.

This dual model — teaching the technology while applying it in practice — reinforced a culture of co-creation across the institution.

“We’ve built this together,” de Louw reflected.

“Their ideas, frustrations, and feedback shaped the college app, making it as much their platform as ours. That’s the real success story,” he added.

The Continued Learning Path

Koning Willem I College’s Mendix journey demonstrates more than the power of low code in education. It reflects what can happen when digital transformation is embedded in the way an institution operates.

What began in 2014 as the adoption of a new development platform has grown into a sustainable, self-sufficient digital ecosystem designed, developed, and continuously improved by the college community itself.

Today, that capability is embedded in how Koning Willem I College works. As new challenges arise, the college can build on its Mendix foundation, adding new solutions, improving what’s already in place, and steadily deepening its in-house expertise.

“It wasn’t just an IT project. It was a statement of renewal and pride for the entire campus. We created a new visual identity — an app on your phone that truly reflects the college.”

For Koning Willem I College, digital transformation isn’t defined by a single launch. It’s defined by the ability to keep evolving and equipping students, teachers, and staff with tools that grow alongside them.