{"id":172115,"date":"2024-10-03T14:48:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T12:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172115"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:30","slug":"interest-on-study-debt-stays-roughly-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/03\/interest-on-study-debt-stays-roughly-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"Interest on study debt stays roughly the same"},"content":{"rendered":"

The interest on study debts will amount to around 2.6 percent next year, which is roughly the same as now. Borrowing money from the Education Executive Agency (DUO) is more expensive than before, when it was free, but it won\u2019t get much more<\/em> expensive for the time being.<\/p>\n

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Students will be informed of the new percentage by DUO this month, but it can already be calculated. Based on the interest rates<\/a> in the past year, it works out to 2.6 percent.<\/p>\n

The interest on study debts is linked to the interest the Dutch state pays on five-year loans. The average is determined based on the year from October to October.<\/p>\n

For years, the state actually received money: the interest was negative. For students, this meant zero percent interest. In 2023, this became 0.46 percent and this calendar year the rate jumped<\/a> to 2.56 percent. This caused dismay with students who thought borrowing was free.<\/p>\n

11 percent<\/h2>

There were years with higher interest rates. In 2008, for example, the rate was over four percent. In the nineties, loans were very expensive with interest rates between six and ten percent; in 1992 it was even more than 11 percent.<\/p>\n

The official calculation for next year isn\u2019t yet known and can therefore deviate slightly. The ministry looks at state loans with a term between 4.5 and 5.5 years. DUO is expected to announce the rate next week.<\/p>\n\n\t

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