‘Unlucky students’ get up to 3272 euros compensation

Students who studied between 2015 and 2019 can get a maximum of 3272 euros for missing out on the basic grant. That includes exchanging the previously promised ‘voucher’ for extra tuition. This is stated in the bill Minister Dijkgraaf of Education sent to the House of Representatives .

A total of one billion euros has been allocated for the so-called ‘unlucky students’. They will get 359 euros for every missed year of basic grant. On top of that, only the first four cohorts of students in the loan system (aka ‘unlucky students’) will receive 1,836 euros instead of the originally promised ‘voucher’ for extra education.

In an earlier proposal, the compensation was slightly lower, at 3206 euros. Student organisations at the time were critical of that amount. According to Paulo Bos of the Rotterdam-based action group Student Protest, that amount would ‘by no means’ cover what students have missed out on in recent years. “We bet on 15,000 euros as the compensation amount in our earlier policy advice,” he said in March. Compared to the old pre-2015 basic grant system, this group of students have missed out on about 13,000 euros. A motion in the House of Representatives to compensate the total amount did not make it through.