‘Unlucky students’ may receive up to 6500 euros in compensation

If you did not receive a basic grant and have completed your studies, you will receive money back next year. Student finance agency DUO has launched a campaign to inform (former) students about this.

For each month of study without a basic grant, the compensation amounts to 34.17 euros. Per month of study without a basic grant, this amounts to 34.17 euros. The current basic grant is 125.99 euros per month for students living at home and 314 euros for those living away from home. The allowance of over thirty euros per month only applies if you obtained your diploma within ten years. Those who completed a four-year bachelor’s programme at a university of applied sciences (HBO) will receive 1,640 euros. The same applies to students who completed a university bachelor’s degree followed by a one-year master’s programme.

This amount can be slightly higher for longer study durations. For example, students who spent five or six years studying (such as for technical or medical degrees) will receive 2,050 or 2,460 euros, respectively.

According to DUO, this affects approximately 760.000 students, of whom 590.000 are already eligible. The amount will be deducted from their student loan balance at the beginning of 2025, or paid out if they have no (remaining) debt. For others, this will occur when they graduate.

The first four cohorts under the loan system, introduced in September 2015, were also promised a voucher for additional education as a token of compensation. This voucher will also be paid out or deducted from student loans, as decided by the previous government.

This adds another 2,097 euros. Around 350,000 (former) students are entitled to this amount, with 290,000 of them expected to receive the money early next year.

The current government deemed this financial compensation of 1.15 billion euros too meagre and allocated an additional 1.4 billion euros. Minister Eppo Bruins wrote to Parliament last week, explaining that this amounts to an extra 1900 euros for four years of study without a basic grant.

This money will be distributed in the spring of 2027. According to Bruins, earlier payment is not feasible. He expects to submit the required legislation to Parliament in early 2026. DUO has cautiously refrained from mentioning this additional compensation for now.

The government does not distinguish between students who lived with their parents and those who lived independently. DUO no longer tracked whether students lived at home or not, as they were no longer receiving a basic grant, making the distinction irrelevant.

The basic grant for students living at home was about 100 euros per month in 2014. Suppose you began studying in 2015, missed four years of the basic grant, and lived with your parents the entire time. The loan system would have cost you roughly 4600 euros, while the compensation will amount to 5600 euros. Those living at home would, in effect, gain 1000 euros.

That is, if the government remains in place and Bruins succeeds in passing his legislation through Parliament. The latter seems likely, as there are probably few parties willing to block the extra compensation.