Scholarships in the Netherlands

There are numerous opportunities for international students to finance their studies in the Netherlands, including scholarships from Dutch government and universities. The largest scholarship program in the country is the Holland Scholarship program. Created and financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education it offers 5,000 euro for international students outside the EU to help to finance their studies in the country on Bachelor or Master level. However, this scholarship does not fully cover the tuition fee.

More generous and more competitive programs is the Orange Tulip Scholarship Programme. It offers a full tuition waiver for students from following countries: Brazil, China, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The scholarships are managed by the Netherlands Education Support Offices, but scholarship receivers are selected by universities. The deadline for this program is in April. This scholarship programs requires excellent academic records as well as other achievements corresponding to the field of studies.

The Netherlands also offers various scholarships to the citizens of particular countries: for example, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Scholarship Programme is dedicated to the citizens of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and other countries in the region. However, this scholarship offers funding only for the short-term programs (up to twelve weeks).

European students may also participate in Erasmus+ and Erasmus Mundus programs which offers different study programs in European countries, including Netherlands. It is also possible to get a scholarship from the universities itself: many of them, especially large ones, have their one scholarship programs which could help to international students to finance their studies. Most of these programs do no provide full tuition fee waiver, but cover a substantial part of it or provide a monthly stipend in order to cover living costs in the Netherlands. Doctoral students usually do not pay tuition fee and receive a stipend from their universities.