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EU passport holders are automatically eligible for a tuition fee loan from the Dutch government. This is called Collegegeldkrediet.

You don't have to apply for Collegegeldkrediet if you don’t need it and you can pay the fees upfront if you wish.

While most EU students are ineligible for living cost loans, the Dutch government still offers them possibility to finance their tuition fees. The loan is paid directly into your bank account in monthly instalments. It is convenient for those students who selected Payment in installments by digital authorization. Some universities request payment in full for the whole year, or at the start of each semester. This can mean that you have to pay the fees before you receive the loan which may have a temporary impact on your cashflow.

This loan is available to anyone with an EU passport. It is not important where you are ordinarily resident. There are some important conditions:

• - you must be under the age of 30 when you start your course
• - you must have a Dutch bank account and you must have a Dutch "burgerservicenummer" (BSN) which you will only receive when you have a permanent address in the Netherlands
• - you must have a Dutch bank account

This is the tuition fee loan component of Dutch student financial support. It consists of a loan to cover the tuition fees for your course. In 2016/17 this will typically be EUR 1.984. The monthly instalments are currently EUR 158.83 a month and it is your responsibility to pay the university.

You have to pay interest on Collegegeldkrediet and this is applied from the day you take out the loan. The current interest rate is 0.01%.

There is a two year interval after graduation before you start repaying your loan. The loan must be repaid in full over a maximum of 15 years and there is no mechanism for it to be written off automatically after that time. DUO will calculate the rate of repayment. The minimum monthly repayment is EUR 45.41 but this can be reduced at the discretion of the Dutch government. You will have to repay the loan in full even if you do not complete your degree or if you leave the country.

Assuming you take out Collegegeldkrediet for a three-year undergraduate degree, the total you are likely to owe upon graduation is around EUR 6.000.

You can apply for the loan at any point up to 31st January in the academic year for which you wish to claim.

You need to fill-in the application form and post it to DUO address below:

Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs
Afdeling Klantenservice EU/EER
Postbus 51014
9702 JA Groningen

along with a copy of your EU passport or ID. The current application form is here.

For any further questions or details, do not hesitate to contact us by email: nl@excel.md