Netherlands

Tuition

Students from an EEA country, Switzerland or Suriname who have not yet obtained a comparable degree from a Dutch government-funded institution pay the government-set statutory tuition fee, EUR 2,694 for the 2026-2027 academic year. Students of all other nationalities pay an institutional fee set individually by each institution and programme. The structured non-EU figures above are not one uniform tariff: Study in NL reports a separate average range of EUR 9,000-20,000 per year for bachelor's programmes and EUR 12,000-30,000 per year for master's programmes. Some institutions additionally charge non-EEA applicants, or applicants without prior Dutch education, a one-off application or handling fee of about EUR 75-100. Exact amounts always depend on the specific institution and programme. ^[1]

Visa

Provisional residence permit (MVV) combined with a residence permit for study at a university or institute of higher professional education (hoger beroepsonderwijs, HBO); the Dutch educational institution applies for this on the student's behalf with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). — 16 hours per week during the academic year, as an alternative to full-time work in June, July and August. ^{[2] [3]}

Applications

Most Dutch bachelor's and master's programmes are registered through the national portal Studielink. Capped-place ('numerus fixus') programmes such as Medicine, Dentistry, Dental Hygiene or Physiotherapy have an early deadline of 15 January, run a ranking or lottery selection between 15 January and 15 April, and notify applicants of their result via Studielink on 15 April, with two weeks to accept an offered place. For all other programmes, the general Studielink deadline is 1 May. Non-EU/EEA applicants who need a residence permit and visa should apply well ahead of these dates so their institution has enough time to arrange the immigration procedure, and individual institutions or programmes may set their own, earlier deadlines. ^{[4] [5]}

Application portals

• Studielink

Language

Nederlands. Dutch is the language of daily life and of most bachelor's programmes, but the Netherlands has built one of continental Europe's largest and most diverse offerings of English-taught higher-education programmes, especially at master's level. The government-backed Study in NL Studyfinder lets prospective students search the current range of English-taught bachelor's and master's programmes across all Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences. ^{[6] [7]}

Health insurance

Everyone who studies or works in the Netherlands is legally required to have health insurance, but which type applies depends on the individual situation. Students who are in the Netherlands for study purposes only may not take out Dutch public health insurance and must instead keep adequate cover from their home country (EU/EEA students can often rely on the European Health Insurance Card, EHIC) or take out private international student insurance. Only once a student also holds a (part-time) job does Dutch public health insurance become compulsory; the required Dutch basic policy (basisverzekering) then costs about EUR 133 per month on average, according to national household-budget data cited by Study in NL. Students who receive a letter from the care-insurance body CAK about a possible insurance obligation must respond within three months to avoid a fine. This is general orientation, not individual insurance or legal advice. ^{[8] [9]}

Universities

• University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam ^{[7] [10]}
• Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Delft ^{[7] [11]}
• Utrecht University, Utrecht ^{[7] [12]}
• Leiden University, Leiden ^{[7] [13]}
• Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam ^{[7] [14]}

Scholarships

• NL Scholarship — National scholarship financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science together with participating Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences, and coordinated by Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education. It pays out EUR 5,000 in the recipient's first year of study; this is a partial award, not a full-tuition scholarship. The programme was known as the Holland Scholarship until it was renamed in June 2023. ^{[15] [16]}
• Erasmus+ — The EU's programme for education, training, youth and sport funds study or traineeship mobility periods at partner institutions, including exchange semesters in the Netherlands, through grants that contribute to travel and living costs during the mobility period; exact grant amounts depend on the destination country group and the national or institutional agency administering the funds. ^[17]