Photo Shutterstock Only one in four receives a basic student grant, reports Education Minister Eppo Bruins, at a cost of 186 million euros.
Under certain conditions, students from other European countries are entitled to student financing in the Netherlands. Right-wing and populist parties in particular are concerned about this: aren’t the costs getting out of hand? And won’t the basic student grant attract more international students?
The government is trying to monitor this. The initial results, clad in ifs and buts, were sent to the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon. The student financing scheme costs a total of €2.8 billion. Of this amount, 186 million euros go to internationals, according to a letter from outgoing minister Bruins (Education) to the House of Representatives. That is less than 7 percent of the costs.
Increased
26 percent of European students make use of Dutch student financing. In 2022, this was only 12 percent, back when there was no basic student grant. All in all, the number of internationals with student financing grew from 17 thousand in 2022 to 39 thousand in 2024 (with the basic student grant).
It has become easier to get student financing following various court cases over the conditions of entitlement. Some European students are required to prove a connection to the Netherlands by having a side job here: the number of working hours has been brought down by a series of court rulings.
Double student financing
There are concerns in the House of Representatives, particularly amongst government party NSC, about double student financing: what prevents international students from applying for a grant both in the Netherlands and in their home country, even though that is technically not allowed?
The Netherlands does not exchange data on student financing with other countries at this point. Getting that exchange up and running is not all that easy, writes outgoing minister Eppo Bruins. In the absence of European rules on this, the Netherlands would have to make separate agreements with countries such as Germany, Italy and Romania. This does not always make sense: some countries do not have ‘mobile student financing’ for students who study abroad. According to Bruins, that exchange “will require a certain capacity, while the returns are uncertain”. He will get back on the matter later.
HOP, Bas Belleman
