Scholarships and Part-Time Work for Students in the Netherlands

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Scholarships for international bachelor's students in the Netherlands are limited and rarely cover the full cost. The one national scheme, the NL Scholarship, pays €5,000 once. EU students have a different, more valuable route: Dutch student finance if they work enough hours. Non-EU students should budget for the full institutional fee and living costs, and treat any award as a contribution.

The NL Scholarship

The NL Scholarship, formerly the Holland Scholarship, is the national scheme for students from outside the European Economic Area, awarded through participating institutions.

Amount: €5,000, paid in the first year of study. It is not a full-tuition scholarship.
Who can apply: students with a non-EEA nationality who apply for a full-time bachelor's or master's programme at a participating institution and who have no degree from a Dutch institution.
How: you apply through the institution, which sets its own criteria and deadline. For 2026/27, applications opened on 1 November 2025.

Not every institution offers it for bachelor's programmes. Some universities use it only for master's students, so check the scholarship page of your institution before counting on it.

University scholarships: examples

Erasmus School of Economics (Rotterdam). For 2027/28 it lists several scholarships for non-EEA bachelor students, including a partial tuition fee waiver for excellent current bachelor's students from outside the EEA. The money goes towards the fee, not to the student.
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Its only scholarship open to new bachelor's students is the NL Scholarship, for non-EEA students applying for the first time to a full-time English-taught programme and paying the institutional fee. Applications for 2027/28 open in March 2027. Its earlier Amsterdam Talent Scholarship is no longer offered to new students.

Study in NL, the official portal run by Nuffic, has a scholarship search tool that shows which awards apply to a given programme. Most institutions publish their own awards on their fee or scholarship pages, and deadlines are often early in the year.

Student finance for EU students

EU, EEA and Swiss students can receive Dutch student finance from DUO, the government agency, under conditions:

you have lived in the Netherlands for five or more consecutive years; or
you are a migrant worker with paid work in the Netherlands for at least 32 hours a month; or
a parent or partner who is an EU, EEA, Swiss or UK national works in the Netherlands.

DUO checks the hours you worked afterwards, and if you did not work enough you must repay. EU students who do not qualify can still take a tuition fee loan (collegegeldkrediet) if they are under 30 and enrolled full-time in an accredited programme.

Working while you study

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work without restrictions.
Non-EU students with a residence permit for study may work as employees, but must choose: up to 16 hours a week, or full-time in June, July and August. The employer needs a work permit (TWV) for you. An internship that is part of your programme does not need one. See student visa for the Netherlands.

Minimum wage

The Netherlands has a statutory hourly minimum wage that depends on age. From 1 July 2026 it is, before tax:

Age	Per hour
21 and over	€14.99
20	€11.99
19	€8.99
18	€7.50

The amounts change every 1 January and 1 July. Many first-year students are under 21, so check the rate for your age.

Health insurance and tax

As soon as you take a paid job, even a small one, you must take out Dutch basic health insurance. This applies to EU and non-EU students. Your employer withholds wage tax from your pay; you need a citizen service number (BSN), which you get when you register with the municipality. See health insurance for students in Europe.

Finding a job

University career services. Most universities and universities of applied sciences have a career service, and many post student jobs and student assistant posts.
Employment agencies (uitzendbureaus) also offer short-term work to students.
Language. Without Dutch the choice of jobs is smaller, especially outside the large cities.

For non-EU students, remember that the employer must have the TWV before you start work.

Where to look next

Official sources

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.