The Holland Scholarship was officially renamed the NL Scholarship back in June 2023, to match the "Study in NL" branding the Dutch government now uses for everything international-student-facing. Nothing else changed — the €5,000 amount, the eligibility rules, and the application route are exactly the same as before. If you've seen both names floating around, they're the same programme.
It's run jointly by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the individual universities that opt in each year, and applications for the 2026–2027 intake opened on November 1, 2025.
The Honest Numbers First
Before anything else, it's worth being upfront about scale. This is a one-time grant of €5,000, paid during your first year of study only. It is not renewed in year two, three, or four. Meanwhile, non-EEA tuition at Dutch universities typically runs €8,000–€20,000+ a year, and living costs add another €10,000–€14,000 annually. The grant meaningfully offsets year one — it does not come close to covering a full degree.
| Cost category | Typical annual range | Covered by the grant? |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition (non-EEA rate) | €8,000–€20,000+ | No — you pay this directly |
| Accommodation | €6,000–€10,800 | No |
| Health insurance | ~€1,400 | No |
| Food & daily living | €3,600–€6,000 | No |
| Books, supplies, one-off travel | €800–€2,500 | Partially, in practice |
| NL Scholarship grant | — | €5,000, first year only |
Immigration note: the Dutch immigration service (IND) requires proof of roughly €11,000–€14,000 in accessible funds per year for your residence permit — regardless of whether you hold the scholarship. €5,000 alone won't satisfy that requirement, so you'll need documented savings, a sponsor letter, or another award on top.
Treat the NL Scholarship as a discount on year one, not a funding plan for the whole degree.
Who Actually Qualifies
The eligibility rules are narrower than a lot of summaries suggest. You need to tick every one of these boxes:
- Non-EEA nationality. Citizens of EU/EEA countries, Switzerland, and Suriname are excluded — they already pay EU-rate tuition and can access Dutch student finance instead. If you hold dual nationality and one passport is EEA, that passport rules you out.
- Bachelor's or Master's, full-time only. Part-time study, distance learning, exchange semesters, and short courses don't qualify. PhD candidates are excluded too — in the Netherlands, PhD researchers are usually salaried employees rather than scholarship recipients, which is arguably a better deal anyway.
- No prior Dutch degree. If you've already completed any degree at a Dutch institution — even a different one from the university you're applying to now — you're not eligible again.
- Admission to a participating programme. Not every Dutch university takes part, and within participating universities, not every programme is included. This is the detail most applicants skip and then get caught out by.
- The university's own bar. On top of the national rules, each institution sets its own minimum grades, language test scores, and sometimes a separate scholarship form.
Where You Can Actually Use It
The list of participating institutions is reset every academic year, so treat any list — including this one — as a starting point, not a guarantee. For 2026–2027, participants included research universities such as Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen, Erasmus Rotterdam, Maastricht, VU Amsterdam, Radboud, Tilburg, TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, the University of Twente, and Wageningen, alongside several universities of applied sciences including Fontys, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and ArtEZ.
The one non-negotiable step: confirm both that your target university is participating and that your specific programme is on their eligible list, directly on that university's own scholarship page — not on a third-party summary. This changes yearly.
How the Application Actually Works
There's no single national form for this scholarship — that's the part most students get wrong going in. Everything routes through the university itself, which means your admissions application and your scholarship application are usually the same process, not two separate ones.
1. Shortlist universities where your programme is actually eligible
Start from the programme, not the city. Check each university's own NL Scholarship page for their current eligible programme list and their internal scholarship deadline — this is often earlier than the general admissions deadline.
2. Start your admission application through Studielink
Most Dutch universities process admissions through Studielink (studielink.nl), though some — TU Delft among them — run their own separate portal. The scholarship option is typically a checkbox or linked form inside this same application.
3. Opt in to the scholarship and submit your 500-word letter
Most institutions ask for a motivation letter capped at 500 words that covers two things: your academic strength, and what you've done outside the classroom. A few universities, Radboud among them, run a fully separate scholarship application through their own system — read the instructions carefully rather than assuming it's automatic.
4. Upload transcripts, certificates, and language scores
Incomplete files are the single biggest reason applications get dropped before anyone even reads the letter. Match your documents against the university's own checklist item by item.
5. Submit before the scholarship deadline — not the general one
Deadlines for 2026–2027 ranged from January 31 (Radboud) to as late as May at some institutions. Missing the scholarship-specific cutoff means you're out of the running even if your regular admission is later accepted.
6. Wait for a direct decision from the university
Results typically land between April and July, straight from the institution's financial aid or scholarship office — not from a national body.
7. Sort your MVV entry visa and residence permit
Your university acts as your recognised sponsor with the IND for the entry visa (MVV) and residence permit (VVR). Start this the moment you have both an admission offer and a scholarship confirmation — processing typically takes four to eight weeks.
What the Motivation Letter Is Actually Judging
Unlike a lot of government scholarships that want a sweeping career-vision essay, the NL Scholarship letter has a fairly specific job: prove you're academically strong, and prove you're more than just grades. Selection committees are explicitly told to weigh both.
- Open with the specific programme — one sentence on why this course, at this university, is your logical next step. Skip the "I am writing to apply" opener.
- Get concrete about academics. "Ranked 4th of 150" beats "I am a hardworking student" every time — committees are comparing numbers across a stack of applications.
- Show what you did outside class. Volunteering, clubs, sport, community work — Dutch institutions specifically list this as a separate criterion from grades, not a nice-to-have add-on.
- Tie your goals back to impact, not just personal ambition — how the degree feeds into something bigger than your own career.
- Stay inside 500 words. Several universities cut letters off or reject them outright past that limit — write tight rather than comprehensive.
The Move Most Applicants Miss: Stacking It
Because €5,000 alone rarely closes the funding gap, the strongest applicants apply to the NL Scholarship and a university's own institutional award in parallel — things like TU Delft's Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship, Leiden's LExS, or Utrecht's Excellence Scholarship, several of which cover full tuition plus a living stipend. These are separate applications with separate deadlines, so they need to be tracked independently rather than assumed to happen automatically alongside the NL Scholarship.
It's also worth not overlooking the universities of applied sciences (hogescholen) — Fontys, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and others participate too, typically with less applicant competition than the big research universities.
Once You're Actually Awarded It
- Accept within the window. Universities usually give you two to four weeks to confirm — miss it and the award moves to someone on the reserve list.
- Finish enrolment through Studielink — the grant isn't paid until your enrolment is fully confirmed.
- Register with the local municipality (BRP) within five days of arrival to get your BSN — you'll need it for banking, insurance, and receiving the payment itself.
- Open a Dutch bank account as soon as your BSN comes through — payment delays are common for students who leave this too late.
- Start planning year two immediately. Since the grant doesn't renew, look early at student-assistant roles, part-time work (up to 16 hours a week is permitted on a student visa), or other scholarships.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Holland Scholarship the same thing as the NL Scholarship?
Yes. The programme was renamed from Holland Scholarship to NL Scholarship in June 2023 to match the Study in NL branding. The amount, eligibility rules, and application process didn't change — only the name.
Does the Holland Scholarship cover full tuition in the Netherlands?
No. It's a one-time €5,000 grant paid in your first year only. Non-EEA tuition at Dutch universities usually runs €8,000–€20,000+ a year, so the grant covers a portion of year one, not the full cost of your degree.
Where do I actually submit the Holland Scholarship application?
There's no central portal. You apply through the specific Dutch university you're seeking admission to — the scholarship option is usually tied to that university's own admissions application.
Can EU students apply for the Holland Scholarship?
No. It's reserved for non-EEA nationals. Citizens of EU/EEA countries, Switzerland, and Suriname already pay EU-rate tuition and have access to Dutch student finance instead, so they're excluded from this particular scheme.
Can I get the Holland Scholarship at more than one university?
You can apply to several participating universities at once, and you're allowed to hold more than one offer while deciding. But you can only accept and receive the grant from one institution in the end.
Useful Resources
- Official Study in NL Scholarship Page: studyinnl.org/finances/nl-scholarship
- Dutch Admissions Portal: studielink.nl
- Free SOP Writer: catchthatscholarship.com/sop-outliner/
- CV Builder: catchthatscholarship.com/cv-builder/
- Scholarship Database: catchthatscholarship.com/scholarships/
If the €5,000 doesn't close your gap on its own — and for most students it won't — the real work is lining up a second, bigger award from the university itself and applying for both at the same time.
