Caribbean students to once again receive basic grant for studying at Dutch colleges or universities as of September

Students from the Caribbean region of the Kingdom, who go to study at a college or university in the Netherlands, will once again receive a basic grant as of September. There was broad support in the Senate today for a legislative proposal that aims to reintroduce the basic grant for higher education. As of Monday, the 19th of June, eligible students will be able to request a basic grant from DUO. 

Minister Dijkgraaf: “The return of the basic grant for college and university students represents a major improvement in the financial position of students. It creates opportunities and establishes a stable foundation. And, together with a more generous supplementary grant, a fixed amount per month helps to give students a certain amount of financial breathing space. The other important thing about this legislative proposal is that the repayment procedure for MBO (senior secondary professional education) students has been brought in line with that of college and university students. This also applies to the additional earnings threshold. This will help to create a more equal footing for MBO students.”

Requesting a basic grant

Students can request the basic grant by submitting an application to DUO, which has been working hard to facilitate the reintroduction of the grant. All (prospective) students who are eligible for the basic grant will be contacted personally by DUO. In addition, the following applies to Caribbean students:

• Students who are already in the Netherlands and have a citizen service number (BSN) and a DigiD, can apply for a basic grant via Mijn DUO as of the 19th of June.
• Prospective students who are still in the Caribbean region and have already requested study financing can also request the basic grant via the form titled ‘Requesting basic grant for higher education students from the Caribbean region’. This form will be sent to them this week via e-mail. 
• Prospective students who are still in the Caribbean region and have not already requested study financing can also request the basic grant and other study financing options via the form titled ‘Requesting study financing for higher education students from the Caribbean region’. This form can be downloaded at www.duo.nl/antillen.

Amounts

HBO (college) and WO (university) students are entitled to a basic grant if they will be studying for the first time in academic year 2023-2024 or if they will still be entitled to study financing at that moment via a performance-based grant. Students that live away from home will receive €274.90 per month; students that live at home will receive €110.30. In academic year 2023-2024, this will be supplemented – for a period of one year – for all students that live away from home (also MBO students) by a further €164.30 per month due to the high rate of inflation for food and energy costs. As a result, students that do not live at home will receive a basic grant of almost €440 in September, which amounts to over €5,200 for academic year 2023-2024.