Did you study in the Netherlands before 2024? You might be entitled to compensation

Student finance organisation DUO is calling on international students who studied in the Netherlands between September 2015 and August 2023 to check whether they have already received a notification about compensation. If not, they need to contact DUO themselves.

The Netherlands is distributing funds to the so-called ‘bad luck generation’ that fell under the loan system and was not entitled to a basic grant. Although DUO has already contacted 600,000 students, there are still various groups that the organisation has not been able to reach automatically.

International students

‘These are, for example, students who did not take out a loan during this period or students who moved abroad and did not properly update their details with us’, says DUO spokesperson Bert Viel.

International students from countries in the European Economic Area who met the work-hour requirement—at the time, 56 hours per month—and did not borrow from DUO are also entitled to compensation.

‘Students who have not received a notification from us and think they meet the conditions will need to log in to DUO themselves to apply for compensation’, says Viel. DUO will ask some additional questions of international students who met the work-hour requirement to verify whether they were genuinely entitled to student finance.

Two types of compensation

There are two types of compensation: the ‘allowance for lack of basic grant’, for students who studied for at least twelve months under the loan system and obtained their degree within ten years. They will receive 34.17 euros per month retroactively for the months they would have been entitled to a basic grant.

The second allowance, the study voucher allowance, is is for students who began their studies between September 2015 and August 2019. They will receive an additional 2,097.08 euros because, according to the government, they ‘did not optimally benefit from the investment in education’ that was supposed to accompany the abolition of the basic grant.

Deducted from debt

Both amounts will only be paid out if students complete their degree within ten years. Students who are still studying should wait until they graduate to apply.

The compensations will first be deducted from any outstanding student loans, Viel explains. Any remaining amount will be paid out. ‘And students who do not have any student loans will receive the full amount directly into their account.’

Dutch

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