Studiefinanciering (student finance) in 2026: can you get it?

This guide covers recognised MBO (secondary vocational education), HBO (higher professional education) and university courses. DUO checks your age, course, nationality or residence status, and the months of finance you have already used.

Your age and course must meet all the conditions in the column for your education level. Nationality and residence conditions follow below.

For MBO, an 18th birthday on the first day of a quarter is an exception: the grant and loan can start that day. The quarters start on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October.

Dutch nationals and holders of residence document type II, III, IV or V meet the nationality condition. For type I, use DUO's residence-permit eligibility assistant (External site, opens in a new tab). The purpose on your permit matters. If you fall under the Richtlijn Tijdelijke bescherming Oekraïne (Temporary Protection Directive for Ukraine), you cannot get regular student finance.

If your permit is pending, DUO says to apply anyway. The first decision will be a refusal. Contact DUO within 6 weeks after receiving a qualifying permit. DUO can then award finance for earlier months if you met the other conditions.

If you are an EU (European Union), EER (European Economic Area) or Swiss citizen, you may qualify through residence or work. The UK (United Kingdom) route also requires an Artikel 50-verblijfsvergunning (Dutch Article 50 residence permit), held by you or your parent or partner. Your age and course must still qualify.

You must meet at least one of these residence or work conditions:

• You have lived in the Netherlands for at least 5 consecutive years.
• You are a migrerend werknemer (migrant worker) in the Netherlands. Employees qualify with at least 32 paid work hours per month or net monthly income of at least 50% of the social-assistance norm. In 2026, that is €700.75, or €173 if you are under 21.
• Your parent or partner is a migrant worker with an EU, EER, Swiss or UK nationality. They must meet the conditions for their employment type.

These figures guide DUO's assessment. Migrant-worker status also depends on your individual circumstances and evidence.

DUO assesses your work, or the work of your qualifying parent or partner. With 24 to 32 paid hours a month, an average of 24 hours can be enough after 6 months. The worker must work in each of those first 6 months. After that, DUO allows 1 month without work per calendar year. Below an average of 24 hours, you may still qualify if you prove migrant-worker status.

Self-employed workers must meet both the paid-hours and omzet (business revenue) conditions. Revenue must be at least 50% of the monthly social-assistance norm. DUO also assesses whether their economic activity is sufficient. Unpaid hours do not count.

For the employee route, upload the worker's contract signed by both parties, latest payslip and matching bank statement. For fewer than 32 hours, DUO asks for the previous 6 months of payslips and statements, for the months you worked in the Netherlands. If the employment contract starts after the first day of a month, finance starts the following month. Contact DUO about internships.

DUO checks past work. If DUO's check does not establish that you met the work condition, you must repay the student finance and travel-product costs for those months.

Higher-education students also cannot receive student finance from a foreign government at the same time.

For the European worker route, DUO allows one month without work per calendar year if the worker averages at least 32 paid hours a month. It excludes that month when calculating the average.

You choose which parts of student finance to request. A prestatiebeurs (performance grant) becomes a gift after a qualifying diploma within 10 years; the exceptions are explained below.

DUO normally counts you as uitwonend (living away from your parents) if you register at a different address from your parents and actually live there.

DUO allows specified exceptions to the living-away registration rule (External site, opens in a new tab), including some internships and a complete eligible course abroad. Landlord refusal alone does not qualify for an exception. Report registration problems to your gemeente (municipality).

These are maximum monthly amounts from DUO's student-finance tables (External site, opens in a new tab). Your supplementary grant depends on your parents' income. Both loan rows are optional debt, and the periods differ between MBO and higher education.

For HBO and university, the following amounts apply from September to December 2026. The total includes a tuition-fee loan at the statutory fee.

The ordinary-loan rows assume you receive the maximum supplementary grant. If your grant is lower, you can borrow the missing part as an extra loan. That extra amount is debt. In the loan-only phase after your grant years, the 2026 ordinary-loan ceiling is €1,213.95 per month; a higher-education tuition-fee loan can be added.

For MBO students who do not owe lesgeld (course fees), the August–December 2026 supplementary grant is €125.92 lower. The maximum is €316.58 if you live with your parents, or €344.90 if you live away.

For 2026–2027, statutory HBO and university tuition is €2,694. MBO BOL lesgeld is €1,511 if you were at least 18 on 1 August 2026. The tuition-fee loan at the statutory fee is €224.50 per month from September 2026. If your institution charges more, you can borrow more, up to the actual fee or €1,122.50 per month. It remains optional debt.

Worked example: you study at HBO, qualify as living away and receive the maximum supplementary grant in October 2026. With both loans set to €0, your monthly payment is €324.52 + €491.08 = €815.60. The travel product is separate from that cash payment.

DUO pays at the end of each month. The time depends on your bank and account; the payment can arrive in the evening. These are the remaining DUO payment dates for 2026 (External site, opens in a new tab).

The payment date does not establish your entitlement. Check 'Mijn producten' (My products) in Mijn DUO for the amount DUO has awarded you.

At MBO 1–2, the basic grant, supplementary grant and travel product are gifts. At MBO 3–4, HBO and university, they are a performance grant. They become gifts after a qualifying diploma within 10 years of the first month you received student finance or the travel product.

For higher education, the years that become a gift depend on the diploma and official course length. An associate degree converts 2 grant years, a university bachelor 3, and an HBO bachelor 4. Bachelor-plus-master routes vary. Check Mijn DUO for your remaining months and diploma deadline.

These exceptions and debt rules also apply:

• At MBO 3–4, any supplementary grant paid during your first 12 months of student finance is a gift.
• At HBO or university, any supplementary grant paid during your first 5 months of student finance is a gift.
• The ordinary loan and tuition-fee loan remain debts, even if you graduate.
• Without a qualifying diploma in time, you repay the remaining performance grant and travel-product value with interest.

The eerstejaarsregeling (first-year rule) can cancel repayment of a first-year performance grant. Its stopping deadline and restrictions on restarting depend on your route. After a completed MBO course, a student's first HBO year can have a different deadline. Use DUO's first-year-rule checker (External site, opens in a new tab) before relying on it.

Moving from MBO to HBO gives you new finance and travel entitlement. Both your 10-year period for using it and your 10-year diploma period start again. Ordinary loans remain debts. For MBO 3–4, travel entitlement is at most 84 months, including use before age 18. A standard 4-year higher-education course normally gives 5 travel years. Check your personal balance in Mijn DUO.

DUO recommends applying at least 8 weeks before your entitlement starts. You can apply while waiting for exam, admission or residence-permit results. Follow these steps:

1. Register with your gemeente if you still need a BSN (burgerservicenummer, citizen service number).
2. Arrange DigiD (your government login) (External site, opens in a new tab). For setup, follow Get and use DigiD.
3. Log in to Mijn DUO to apply.
4. Select the components you want. DUO recommends always requesting the supplementary grant.
5. Upload the evidence for your route. For the European route, upload it with your application or within 4 weeks.

Mijn DUO also accepts a European eIDAS (cross-border electronic identification) login. Paper forms are available if you cannot use Mijn DUO. Arrange a payment account for the money you receive.

Money can be awarded for past months only within the current academic year: from 1 August for MBO and 1 September for HBO or university. The travel product cannot be awarded for past months. Report a failed exam, a different course or other changes promptly in Mijn DUO.

For a 2026 supplementary grant, DUO normally uses your parents' 2024 income. If their combined income has fallen by at least 15%, they can ask DUO to use 2025 or 2026 instead. DUO later checks estimates against final tax data. An adjustment can lead to an extra payment or a debt.

Request the supplementary grant once, even if you expect €0. DUO then checks your eligibility each year.

Parents with foreign income must report gross annual income and provide DUO's requested evidence. Start early because processing can take longer.

If a parent cannot or will not cooperate, apply for student finance and the supplementary grant first. DUO can disregard a parent's income only for a listed reason supported by evidence. Examples include a parent who has not legally recognised you or whose whereabouts are unknown. Other grounds include a serious lasting conflict beyond money, or maintenance that was formally set and has been uncollectible for at least 12 consecutive months.

Your parents’ foreign-income statements and supporting documents must be in Dutch or English. You may translate them yourself. Translate the complete document and submit the translation together with a copy of the original.

Lower or stop an ordinary loan by the first day of the month when the change should apply. You can raise it for past months within the same academic year.

When you finish or leave your course, stop finance and the travel product separately. Follow this order:

1. Confirm your deregistration date with your MBO school or Studielink (higher-education enrolment service) (External site, opens in a new tab).
2. Stop student finance in Mijn DUO by the first day of the first month without entitlement.
3. Cancel the travel product at a pick-up machine by the 10th day of that month.

You must stop using the travel product from the first day of the month without entitlement. Ending enrolment or finance does not remove it from your card. If you never collected the product, there is nothing to cancel. If your card is lost, broken or expired, use the customer-service route on DUO’s travel-product cancellation page (External site, opens in a new tab).

If you keep using the product after entitlement ends, you build up an ov-schuld (public-transport debt). In 2026, the charge is €96.09 per half-calendar-month in the first month and €192.21 per half-calendar-month after that.

To save unused entitlement while pausing study, stop every finance component and the travel product by the first day of the month. For MBO 3–4, HBO and university, use the remaining months within your 10-year period. MBO 1–2 has no 10-year use limit. Restart before turning 30. Once you are 30, stopping all finance prevents a restart.

You repay ordinary loans, tuition-fee loans and any performance grant that did not become a gift. For a regular study debt, a 2-year preliminary phase starts on 1 January after finance ends. Required monthly repayments start after that.

The repayment period is normally up to 15 or 35 years. Your course and when you first received student finance determine your repayment rules. Mijn DUO shows which rules apply, such as SF15 (15-year repayment rules), SF35 (35-year repayment rules) or SF15-oud (older 15-year repayment rules). Under SF15-oud, excluding partner income can extend repayment beyond 15 years.

For students receiving finance in 2026, interest is 2.33% under SF35 and 2.29% under SF15. Existing repayers may have a different rate fixed for 5 years. Check Mijn DUO for your rate and the date that fixed period ends.

Under SF35 in 2026, DUO bases payment capacity on 4% of annual income above an exemption. The exemption is €26,819.42 if you are single without children. It is €38,351.77 if you have a partner or meet DUO’s single-parent conditions. Partner income also counts. If payment capacity is below €5 per month, the required amount is €0.

For the single-parent exemption, you must care for a child under 18 for at least 6 months of the year. The child must be registered at your address. If you share care, you must provide at least 50% of it. No other adult who counts as a partner may be registered there. Check DUO’s repayment calculation (External site, opens in a new tab) for your situation.

Medical or other exceptional circumstances can affect your performance grant. Contact your studentendecaan (student counsellor) or studiebegeleider (study adviser) as soon as they delay your study. DUO may extend your grant or diploma period, convert a grant, or give new entitlement. Each scheme has its own conditions. Applications through your student counsellor or study adviser require medical and institution statements.

If a disability prevents a side job while you can still study, ask your gemeente about studietoeslag (study allowance). You cannot receive it if you already have Wajong (benefit for people disabled from a young age).

If you become fully and permanently unable to work during your diploma period and cannot obtain your diploma in time as a result, you can ask DUO to convert your performance grant into a gift. You must be entitled to Wajong. You can apply without an adviser. For Wajong, follow the evidence list in DUO’s Wajong conversion form (External site, opens in a new tab). DUO requires a benefit decision issued within your diploma period. Include a copy of your first benefit decision.

Levenlanglerenkrediet (lifelong learning credit) is a separate tuition-only loan. You must meet its nationality and course conditions and have no right to regular student finance. For the usual route, you must be at least 30 and under 57 when the credit starts. If you turn 57 while receiving it, you can continue while you remain enrolled in the course. You can use it for recognised full-time, part-time or dual higher education, or full-time MBO BOL study in the Netherlands.

Under 30, you can qualify for a second higher-education course after earning an HBO bachelor or university master. Part-time higher education is another route. If someone else pays your full tuition, you cannot get the credit. If they pay part, you can borrow only the remainder.

For 2026–2027, the usual yearly ceilings are €2,694 for HBO or university and €1,511 for MBO. Higher institutional-fee ceilings are €13,470 and €7,555 respectively. You can never borrow more than the fee you owe.

For regular study, apply before the course starts and again each academic year. The loan is not awarded for past months. For modular study, you can apply while enrolled in the module.

The 2026 interest rate is 2.33%. You repay under SF15-lllk (15-year lifelong-learning-credit repayment rules). The repayment phase begins on 1 January after the credit stops. Payments start on 1 May. The maximum repayment term is 15 years.

Contact DUO about the decision; it may be able to resolve the problem. If documents were missing, ask whether you can still provide them. You have 6 weeks from the date on a formal DUO decision to make a bezwaar (objection). Keep that deadline even while discussing the problem with DUO. You cannot use this objection procedure to challenge reminders, other payment requests or bailiff documents.

The original decision stays in force during the objection. An objection does not pause repayments. If that causes financial problems, you can ask the court for a voorlopige voorziening (temporary court order). If DUO rejects your objection, you can appeal to the court within 6 weeks of the dispatch date of that decision.

If you are unsure about your European work status, call DUO on +31 50 599 77 11. Save every decision and request for documents.

If you are starting study, check DUO's eligibility assistant, your course registration, permit purpose and start date. Apply before you need the payments. If you are choosing a loan, first check Mijn DUO for your remaining finance months, diploma deadline and repayment rules.

If you are stopping study, put both the first-day finance deadline and the 10th-day travel cancellation deadline in your calendar. A refusal or formal DUO decision ordering repayment has its own 6-week objection deadline.

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