StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The NL Scholarship — still widely known by its former name, the Holland Scholarship — is a grant for students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who are starting a full-time bachelor’s or master’s programme in the Netherlands. It is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the participating institutions themselves, and it is administered jointly with Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education. The programme was renamed from Holland Scholarship to NL Scholarship in 2023.
Eligibility
- Non-EEA nationality (the EEA covers the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; some institutions also exclude Switzerland or students already entitled to the statutory tuition fee).
- Applying for — and admitted to — a full-time bachelor’s or master’s programme at a participating Dutch research university or university of applied sciences.
- No degree previously obtained from a Dutch institution (some institutions extend this to no prior enrolment in the Netherlands).
- You must meet the institution’s own admission and selection requirements — GPA thresholds, English-language scores and an admission offer are typically part of the picture.
- The scholarship can generally be awarded only once per student.
Benefits
- €5,000 one-off grant, paid in the first year of study.
Documents required
No standardized document list is published for the scheme as a whole — not published in the official notification as a single list; each institution defines its own. Examples seen on university pages include an application form, a motivation letter or essay, transcripts and diplomas, an English-language test result, and passport or identity proof. Follow the checklist of the institution you apply to.
How to apply
- Choose a participating Dutch institution and programmeCheck that it runs the NL Scholarship for 2026-27 and note its own deadline.
- Apply for admission firstThe scholarship is tied to an admission offer — secure your place at the institution before anything else.
- Follow the institution’s scholarship instructionsEach university has its own application route, selection criteria and required documents.
- Meet that institution’s deadlineThere is no central safety net — a missed university deadline is a missed scholarship.
FAQs
The NL Scholarship — the Holland Scholarship renamed in 2023 — is a Dutch-government co-funded grant of €5,000 for non-EEA students in their first year of a full-time bachelor’s or master’s at participating Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences.
There is no single deadline: each participating institution sets its own. Some 2026-27 deadlines have already passed and some remain open — always check your chosen university’s own scholarship page.
€5,000 as a one-off grant in the first year of study. It is not full tuition and it is not renewed for later years.
Students with non-EEA nationality who have no prior degree from a Dutch institution and who are applying for a full-time bachelor’s or master’s at a participating institution, meeting that institution’s admission requirements.
Secure admission at a participating Dutch institution first, then follow that institution’s own scholarship application route. There is no central NL Scholarship application form.
Verified 20 Oct 2026 against multiple official Dutch institutional pages (Radboud University, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and others) plus Nuffic’s Study in NL programme information: renamed Holland Scholarship → NL Scholarship in 2023; €5,000 one-off grant for the first year of study only (not full tuition, not renewable); bachelor’s/master’s scope; non-EEA targeting; no-prior-Dutch-degree rule; typically awarded once; no central deadline and no central application — each institution sets its own deadline and process. Per-institution deadline caution stated in-article; document list stated as not published as a single scheme-wide list.
