Tuition and fees in the Netherlands

Tuition fees in the Netherlands are a lot lower than in many other countries in Europe and across the world. Read on to learn about the costs you are likely to incur when studying there.

Every year the government decides the tuition fee that will be paid by students with a passport from the European Economic Area*, Switzerland and Suriname. For 2018-2019 this fee will be €2,060. Students without this passport who have lived in the Netherlands for a number of years may also be entitled to pay this fee.

Universities are free to decide the tuition fee for students with a passport from other countries themselves. These fees range from €6,000 to €32,000 with most programmes costing around €13,000.

Living costs in the Netherlands are usually around €800-€1,000 a month, depending on location and lifestyle.

Loans and scholarships

As tuition fees for European students are subsidised, very few scholarships are available. There are a few though and among them is the Holland scholarship, available for international students, and which covers €5,000 in the first years of studies. Some specific programmes and universities may also offer scholarships.

Students with a passport from the EEA are entitled to a loan from the Dutch government covering all or part of the tuition fee. Check out this handy infographic to see how these loans work. You don’t have to pay anything back until 2 years after graduation, and then you pay the loan back over 30 years with a low interest rate.

Useful websites

https://www.studyinholland.nl/scholarships/find-a-scholarship

Excellent source of information about studying in Holland, including university scholarships.   

https://duo.nl/particulier/international-student/

Information from the Dutch government about student financing, including tuition fees, other fees and loans.  

*A note about the European Economic Area and Brexit

The EEA includes the EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.) plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

It’s not yet clear how Brexit will affect fees for UK students. It might be that, after the UK has left the EU, some universities will offer UK students the same fees as EU students, and some will treat them the same as non EU / EEA nationals. Unifrog will be kept bang up to date so you know exactly what to expect as the situation unfolds over the next few years.