DUO student finance in 2026: eligibility, grants, loans and repayment

DUO checks your age, course, nationality or residence status, and how much entitlement you have already used. The rules differ between MBO and higher education.

Dutch nationals and holders of residence document type II, III, IV or V qualify on nationality or residence grounds. For type I, use DUO's eligibility assistant: the purpose on the permit matters. Temporary Protection Directive status for Ukraine does not give 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 so it can consider a retroactive award, provided you met the other conditions.

You may qualify after 5 consecutive years in the Netherlands, through your own migrant-worker status, or through a qualifying parent or partner. UK applicants also need an Article 50 TEU document. DUO uses the figures below to process claims, but they are operational benchmarks, not a complete definition of migrant-worker status under EU law. DUO assesses borderline cases and evidence individually.

• DUO normally accepts at least 32 paid work hours per month, or income of at least 50% of the social-assistance norm: €700.75 per month in 2026, or €173 if you are under 21.
• With 24 to 32 hours per month, DUO assesses the situation, especially after at least 6 months of work. Below 24 hours, you may still qualify if you can prove migrant-worker status.
• Upload the contract, latest payslip and matching bank statement. For fewer than 32 hours, DUO normally asks for the previous 6 months. Self-employed work and internships need a broader assessment.
• DUO checks work retrospectively. If the evidence is insufficient, grants and travel costs can become repayable. Higher-education students also cannot receive student finance from a foreign authority at the same time.

These are ceilings, not a promised payment. The supplementary grant depends on parental income, and both loan rows are optional debt. DUO publishes different periods, so do not apply these figures to other months.

For MBO students who do not owe lesgeld, the August–December supplementary grant is €125.92 lower: at most €316.58 at home or €344.90 away. For 2026–2027, statutory HBO/university tuition is €2,694 and MBO BOL lesgeld is €1,511. At the statutory fee, the tuition-fee loan is €224.50 per month from September 2026. If an institution charges more, the loan can be higher but never more than the fee or €1,122.50 per month. It remains optional debt.

At MBO 1–2, the basic grant, supplementary grant and travel product are gifts. At MBO 3–4, HBO and university, they are a prestatiebeurs (performance grant): they become gifts only after a qualifying diploma within 10 years from your first month of entitlement. The months that can convert depend on the official course length—not a universal 4 years. An associate degree is normally 2 years, a university bachelor 3, an HBO bachelor 4, and bachelor-plus-master routes vary. Check Mijn DUO for your own remaining months and diploma clock.

• At MBO 3–4, the first 12 months of supplementary grant are always a gift.
• At HBO or university, the first 5 months of supplementary grant are always a gift.
• The ordinary loan and tuition-fee loan always remain debts, even if you graduate.
• If no qualifying diploma arrives in time, the remaining performance grant and travel-product value are repaid with interest.

• Register with your municipality first if needed, so you have a BSN. Arrange a payment account and a DigiD; Mijn DUO also accepts a European eIDAS login. Paper forms are available if you cannot use Mijn DUO.
• Apply preferably at least 8 weeks before entitlement starts. Select only the components you want, but always request an assessment for the supplementary grant.
• EU-route applicants upload residence or work evidence during the application, or normally within 4 weeks when DUO asks for it.
• Money can be backdated only to the start of the current academic year: 1 August for MBO and 1 September for HBO/university. The travel product is never backdated.
• You may apply while waiting for exam, admission or residence-permit results. Report any change promptly in Mijn DUO.

For a 2026 grant, DUO normally uses your parents' 2024 income. If their combined income has fallen by at least 15%, they may ask to move the reference year to 2025 or 2026. Estimates are later reconciled with final tax data, so an adjustment can create an extra payment or a debt.

• 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 first. DUO may disregard that parent's income only after assessing a listed situation, such as an unknown parent, serious structural conflict or long-term uncollectible maintenance, and the evidence.
• Request the supplementary grant once even if you expect €0; DUO then recalculates eligibility each year.

• Lower or stop an ordinary loan by the first day of the month in which the lower amount should apply. You can raise it for earlier months within the same academic year.
• When you finish or leave, first confirm the deregistration date with MBO or Studielink, then stop student finance by the first day of the first month without entitlement.
• Stop the travel product separately at a pick-up machine by the 10th day of the first month without entitlement. Ending enrolment or finance does not remove it from the card.
• In 2026, late cancellation creates OV debt of €96.09 per half-calendar-month in the first month and €192.21 per half-calendar-month after that.
• If you stop all finance after age 30, you cannot restart it. Check remaining entitlement before pausing it.

Ordinary loans, tuition-fee loans and any performance grant that did not convert must be repaid. For a regular study debt, a 2-year preliminary phase starts on 1 January after finance ends; required monthly repayment starts after that. The repayment period is up to 15 or 35 years, depending on your education and first-finance history. Mijn DUO shows whether SF15 or SF35 applies.

For students receiving finance in 2026, the rate is 2.33% under SF35 and 2.29% under SF15. Existing repayers may have a different rate fixed for a 5-year period, so check Mijn DUO. Under SF35 in 2026, payment capacity is at most 4% of income above €26,819.42 for a single person without children, or €38,351.77 with a partner or as a single parent. If capacity is below €5 per month, the required amount is €0.

Contact your student dean or study adviser as soon as medical or other exceptional circumstances cause delay. Depending on the evidence, DUO may extend the performance grant or diploma period, convert a grant, or grant new entitlement. These are separate, conditional provisions—not automatic waivers—and normally require medical and institution statements. If a disability prevents a side job while you can still study, ask your municipality about studietoeslag (study allowance). Wajong has a separate DUO route.

Levenlanglerenkrediet (lifelong learning credit) is a separate tuition-only loan under SF15-lllc. It is normally for people older than 30 and younger than 57 who no longer qualify for regular finance and take a recognised Dutch course. Under 30, it is limited to specific second-study or part-time higher-education situations. For 2026–2027 the usual ceilings are €2,694 for HBO/university and €1,511 for MBO, with higher ceilings for institutional fees. Apply before study starts and again each academic year; it is not backdated. The 2026 rate is 2.33%. Repayment starts under its own timetable: the phase begins on 1 January after credit stops, payments start in May, and the maximum term is 15 years.

Read the decision and contact DUO first; missing evidence may be fixable. A formal objection must reach DUO within 6 weeks of the date on the decision. The original decision remains in force while DUO considers it, so an objection does not automatically pause repayment; urgent financial harm may require a provisional court measure. If DUO rejects the objection, you can appeal to the court within 6 weeks of the dispatch date of that decision. For uncertainty about EU work status, call DUO on +31 (0)50 599 77 11. Contacting DUO does not pause that 6-week deadline.

• Use DUO's eligibility assistant and check the exact course registration, permit purpose and start date.
• Open Mijn DUO to see your personal entitlement, diploma period and repayment scheme before choosing any loan.
• Save every decision and upload request. Put the application, first-day and travel-product deadlines in your calendar.

If you first need a government login, use the DigiD guide. For the education levels themselves, see the Dutch school system guide.