His academic career is exemplary. The student who took the matter to court had completed his degree at Avans University of Applied Sciences in exactly four years. He then enrolled in a master programme at Tilburg University. He applied for a basic grant but was denied by grant agency DUO.
Why? No one has a clear explanation, not even the judge. Except that the law stipulates it: a student from a university of applied sciences only qualifies for a fifth year of the basic grant if they pursue a master at a university of applied sciences. They are not eligible for funding for a university master.
Reverse is funded
Interestingly, the reverse is funded. A student with a university bachelor’s can receive a grant for a master at a university of applied sciences, even getting an extra year of funding (a fourth and fifth year).
This distinction is so baffling that Robbert Dijkgraaf, the former Minister of Education, couldn’t explain it either. Last year, he told Radar that the difference between universities and universities of applied sciences was ‘hard to explain’.
Preliminary ruling
But the judge isn’t satisfied. In his view, a minister must be able to explain their policies. Standing before him was a university of applied sciences graduate who, upon starting at a university, no longer received a basic grant. The judge ruled, just before the summer, that the minister must provide a proper justification for this.
The Ministry has now provided this reasoning, as shown in the final ruling published last Friday. It argues that there is a difference between a bachelor’s from a university of applied sciences and one from a university because the former takes four years and the latter three. The government essentially funds four years of study, and for the university of applied sciences student, that’s the limit.
The fact that there are exceptions (such as a fifth year for a university of applied sciences master) does not mean that the student in this case is being treated unfairly. With this reasoning, the student’s objection has been dismissed.
‘It doesn’t sit well’
The judge ‘understands’ that the student feels this explanation ‘doesn’t sit well’ with Dijkgraaf’s remark on Radar, where he admitted the unexplainable distinction between university of applied sciences and university degrees. “But this distinction does exist in practice and is (for now) upheld by the legislature,” the judge writes.
The judge hints that a legal change might be on the horizon, but it’s not a done deal. When Dijkgraaf was made aware of this legal quirk, he was already a caretaker minister and left any potential amendments to his successor. The current minister, Eppo Bruins, is making significant budget cuts in higher education. It remains to be seen whether he will allocate funds for university of applied sciences graduates with ambitions in academia.
