Tuition fees halved for first year of higher education

Tuition fees have been halved for students in their first year of higher education. Students doing teacher training courses get this reduction during their second year too.

Students who meet the conditions only need to pay half of the statutory tuition fee for their first year of higher education. The student’s academic institution will automatically calculate the correct fee. The conditions for reduced tuition are set out below.

The reduction in tuition fees was introduced in the 2018/2019 academic year. It will no longer apply as of the 2024/2025 academic year (from 1 September 2024).

Conditions for reduced tuition fee in first year

You pay half of the statutory tuition fee in your first year if you meet all of the following conditions:

you are starting a course at a public-funded university or other public-funded higher education institution for the first time;
your course is a bachelor’s degree or associate degree programme;
the statutory fee applies to you. This means you are a full-time or part-time student at a Dutch public-funded higher education institution, including the Open University or a university college, or you are combining higher education with a work placement.

As of the 2020/2021 academic year, the 50% reduced fee may no longer apply to first-year students in courses considered ‘small-scale and intensive’, like certain courses at university colleges or in higher professional education (HBO). For these courses, the government wants to limit the tuition fee reduction to €1,072 per student.

Teacher training

If you are doing a teacher training course (list in Dutch) (CSV, 30 KB), you pay only half of the tuition fee in your second year as well.

From the 2021/2022 academic year, the 50% reduction in tuition fees also applies if you start a master’s course in teaching and you first entered higher education in 2018/2019 or later.

Some students still pay the full tuition fee

You are not eligible for reduced tuition fees if you:

were enrolled in a Dutch higher education institution before the 2018/2019 academic year; or
are doing a master’s course; or
are paying the non-statutory fee set by your higher education institution; or
are enrolled in a privately funded higher education institution; or
are participating in the demand-driven funding experiment.