How much does it cost to study?
Studying costs money. How much money depends on your personal situation and the study programme you have chosen. The good news? You may be eligible for student finance from the Dutch government or a scholarship.
Financial challenge
Attending university is one of the most significant decisions a person today can make. It usually comes with quite a price tag too. Getting admitted to the programme of your choice is only part of the challenge. The other part is making it affordable.
Tuition fee and additional costs
- Tuition fee
Bachelor's programmes
In the academic year 2025-2026 the statutory tuition fee for bachelor's programmes is €2,601.*
You pay the statutory tuition fee if you:
- have the Dutch nationality or the nationality of another country that is part of the EEA, or the Surinamese or Swiss nationality and
- have not already obtained a bachelor's degree from a government-funded programme in the Netherlands at the start of the academic year.
If these conditions do not apply to you, there may be other conditions under which you are eligible for the statutory tuition fee. To find out, please check the tuition fee regulation.
In all other cases you pay the institutional tuition fee. In the academic year 2025-2026 the institutional fee for bachelor's programmes is €12,850.**
Master's programmes
The tuition fees for the master's programmes vary. To find out which fee applies to you, please check the tuition fee regulation (pdf).
*The statutory tuition fee for the bachelor's programmes Creative Business, Creative Media & Game Technology and Applied Data Science & AI is €3,250.
**The costs for master's programmes may differ. Please see the study costs on the training page of the relevant programme.
- Additional study costs
In addition to the tuition fee, you will need to take into account costs for participation in the introduction week, industry visits, field trips and the purchase of study materials such as textbooks, readers, and a laptop.
Additional study-related costs are involved for some programmes, such as a uniform, software, or a laptop with certain specifications. You will find more information on the 'Study costs' page for your study programme.
- Costs of living
Your daily expenses include food, public transport, books, clothes, and going out. But you also need to take into account the costs of immigration, visa fees, housing, and insurance.
Experience has shown that students living and studying in the Netherlands for one year spend between €700 and €1,000 a month.
- Immigration procedure non-EU students
If you are a non-EU student, additional fees for visa and/or residence permit will apply. You will also have to transfer proof of sufficient means of support. Please check out the application procedure (pdf).
Scholarships
The Dutch government is attempting to make Dutch higher education as accessible as possible to students and mid-career professionals from other countries. In the Netherlands, higher education is subsidised for students from EEA countries, Surinam or Switzerland (please mind the additional conditions - pdf), which means that tuition fees can be kept relatively low, especially compared with the United Kingdom and the United States.
Sometimes scholarships can be used as an allowance. Check out the available scholarships and find out if you may be eligible for one of these.