110 million euros to increase the basic grant for students living away from home

The new cabinet wants to allocate 110 million euros to increase the basic grant for students living away from home. This amounts to an increase of a few tens of euros per month.

The new minority coalition of D66, CDA and VVD has earmarked an additional 1.5 billion euros for education. That is slightly more than the previous cabinet cut. If the House of Representatives agrees, the funding will be restored from 2027.

Of this, around 110 million euros has been set aside to increase the basic grant for students living away from home, the new ministers have informed the House of Representatives.

There are approximately 220 thousand students with a grant for living away from home in vocational education, universities of applied sciences and research universities. If the amount is spread across them, this comes to an annual sum of 500 euros per student, or 42 euros per month.

The current basic grant for students living away from home is 325 euros per month. According to information from Nibud, students are on average short by around 400 euros per month.

May change

The coalition agreement of D66, CDA and VVD includes various plans, including increasing the basic grant for students living away from home, but no amounts had been attached to this so far.

The current amount of 110 million euros comes from a list with the provisional distribution of that 1.5 billion euros for education. GroenLinks-PvdA had requested this list.

The amounts may still change, write minister Rianne Letschert and state secretary Judith Tielen, the new ministers at the Ministry of Education. They are still reviewing the effectiveness, feasibility and the exact costs of their measures.

For the government, the costs of a higher basic grant will only arise later: in higher education, the basic grant only becomes a gift once students obtain their diploma, and that can take years.

Other amounts

The table provided also shows that 434 million euros has been allocated for research and science. This money will be distributed via the sector plans (in which universities collaborate), funding for practice-oriented research, resources for research infrastructure and European cooperation.

Additional funding will also be made available for international students, now that higher education institutions may continue to offer English-taught programmes at their own discretion. In the long term, this amounts to 156 million euros per year.