After eight years, the new basic student grant really is back

On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate unanimously approved the return of the basic student grant in higher education, eight years after the previous basic student grant was abolished.

On this day, all political groups in the Senate agreed to the bill stipulating the return of the basic student grant from 1 September 2023. The grant is a monthly loan during the nominal duration of a programme that is waived for students who complete their degree within ten years.

Next academic year, the monthly grant will be 110.30 euros for students living with their parents. Students living away from home will receive 274.90 euros. Due to high inflation, this latter group will also receive an additional 164.30 euros. That increase will disappear again in September 2024.

Supplementary grant

The supplementary grant will remain about the same (416 euros per month), but more students will be able to apply for it, as the income limit for their parents will go up.

Most current students are also entitled to the new basic student grant, depending on how long they have been studying. Students who have already been studying for two years will have been able to borrow and use a public transport card for two years. This group is therefore entitled to two fewer years of student loans.

Reimbursement

Students and former students who were covered by the student loan system will receive financial compensation. For every year of the nominal study duration they were under the student loan system, they will receive 359 euros.

The basic student grant was abolished as of September 2015 by the then VVD and PvdA cabinet, with support from D66 and GroenLinks. The government had intended to invest the proceeds, hundreds of millions of euros each year, in higher education.