‘Unlucky students’ to receive slightly more money thanks to inflation

Students who missed out on the basic student grant will receive almost 30 euros a month, or 359 euros a year, by way of compensation. But this money hasn’t started to be paid out yet.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the compensation will only be paid from 1 January 2025. Secondly, students will only receive the money if they actually graduate, otherwise they will miss out.

This means that some people will get the money sooner (because they have already graduated) than others (who still have to complete their studies). The law already stipulates that the compensation will increase annually in line with inflation. But this is not due to happen for the first time until 1 January 2026.

However, the caretaker government is implementing a ‘technical change’ so that inflation is taken into account now and ‘the real value of the compensation remains at the same level’, according to an explanation.

For those who missed out on four years of the basic student grant, this technical change is expected to add around 200 euros to the current 1,436 euros. The exact amount will, of course, depend on inflation and the number of months the student missed out on receiving the basic student grant.

At the beginning of its term of office, the cabinet set aside a budget of one billion euros for the entire compensation package. Critics thought this was too little, but the four coalition parties – VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie – were reluctant to tinker with their compromise.

Inflation is running at 10 percent this year, costing the treasury an extra 100 million euros. Next year, inflation is expected to be lower, at around three percent, but this will add another 33 million euros.

The basic student grant was reintroduced this academic year. Students living at home receive 110 euros a month, while students living away from home receive 275 euros a month plus an additional 164 euros a month as a temporary measure relating to purchasing power.

The House of Representatives still has to approve the inflation adjustment. The proposal is linked to another bill so that it does not require a separate and time-consuming process.

This other bill relates to the return of the basic student grant. The higher education sector received extra funding as a result of cutting the basic student grant, but it had to prove that the money was contributing to the quality of education. This money will continue to be allocated to higher education institutions, but now without any additional conditions.