News item | 24-10-2022 | 13:58
Today, Minister Dijkgraaf (OCW) is sending the bill for the reintroduction of the basic grant in higher education to the House of Representatives. The return of the basic grant for students at colleges and universities from the 2023-2024 academic year means a significant improvement in their financial position. The reimbursement regimes for MBO students will also be aligned with those for higher education students. This ensures a more equal position for MBO students.
Minister Dijkgraaf: “By reintroducing the basic grant, I want to give young people a good start and perspective. Students in higher education will soon not only receive a fixed amount per month, they will also be eligible for a supplementary grant earlier. This is important, considering the position of middle-income parents. The bill also contributes to an equal position of MBO students compared to students at universities of applied sciences and universities, by aligning the repayment conditions for MBO students who will study from the 2023-2024 academic year. They also get a 35-year repayment period and the same interest calculation.”
Extra basic grant
If the proposal is approved by parliament, the basic grant in higher education will not only apply to new students in the 2023-2024 academic year, but also to those who are already studying if they are still entitled to student finance. Students living away from higher education receive 274.90 euros per month, students living at home 110.30 euros. For all students living away from home (including MBO), approximately 165 euros per month will be added in the 2023-2024 academic year due to the sharply increased costs of energy and groceries, among other things. A student living away from home will then receive a monthly total of almost 440 euros, a total of more than 5,200 euros for the entire 2023-2024 academic year.
The cabinet is allocating 1 billion euros annually for the reintroduction of the basic grant. The recovery of purchasing power among students is an incidental expenditure of 500 million euros.
The basic grant is one of the sources of income for students to support themselves, but not the only one. In addition to income from work, a parental contribution and possibly borrowing, some of the students can apply for the supplementary grant for extra financial support. In the bill, this amounts to a maximum of 416 euros per month, more than 100 euros more than in the old basic grant system. The income limits of the supplementary grant – the parental income to qualify for a supplementary grant – has been raised in the bill to 70,000 euros for HBO and WO students. As a result, more students can claim a supplementary grant.
Furthermore, Minister Dijkgraaf wants more students who are entitled to make use of the supplementary grant. By adjusting the student grant application process at DUO, the use of the supplementary grant should be greatly increased.
Align repayment regimes
In order to create equality between MBO, HBO and university students, Minister Dijkgraaf is aligning the repayment regimes for student loans. These are still different for MBO and higher education, with different repayment periods (15 and 35 years respectively) and different calculations of the interest. New MBO students who start studying in the 2023-2024 academic year will receive the same conditions as students at HBO and university. MBO students who are already studying at that time – who are then starting their second year, for example – can choose between the old and new system. If you do not make a choice, you will automatically transfer to the higher education regime.
Compensation
Although an allowance for a policy change is unusual, the cabinet is making a gesture towards students who have studied under the student loan system for one or more years. 1 billion euros is incidentally available for this allowance: for a (nominal) study period of 4 years, this amounts to approximately 1,400 euros per student. As an additional amount of money, the study vouchers are freely disposable. Some 375,000 students receive an additional amount of approximately 1,835 euros in deduction from their student debt or are paid this amount if they no longer have any student debt.
During an internet consultation, everyone was able to give their opinion about the plans for student grants. Since the beginning of this year, Minister Dijkgraaf has also been holding talks with students throughout the country under the heading ‘Speak out!’: about the basic grant, but also about welfare and housing, for example. After all, the reintroduction of the basic grant has not solved all the problems of this generation.
Parliamentary consideration of the bill to reintroduce the basic grant is expected in early 2023. Once the bill has been discussed by both Houses, all students will receive a message from DUO about applying for the basic grant. This is expected to be possible from the summer of 2023.