News item | 06-06-2023 | 12:30
About 435,000 students from colleges and universities will receive a basic grant again from September. The Senate today unanimously approved the bill for the reintroduction of the basic grant in higher education. Students who are entitled to this can apply for the basic grant from DUO from Monday 19 June.
Minister Dijkgraaf: “For students, the return of the basic grant means a significant improvement in their financial position for students in higher professional education and university education. A fixed amount per month offers perspective and a good basis. And together with the expansion of the supplementary grant, this reintroduction ensures more financial peace for students. I also think it is important that this bill aligns the repayment regime for MBO students with that of students at universities of applied sciences and universities. The same applies to the additional income limit. This is how we achieve a more equal position for MBO students.”
Apply for a basic grant
Approximately 435,00 students, including an estimated 124,000 first-year students, are expected to be entitled to the new basic grant. To receive this, they must submit an application to DUO, which has recently been working hard to make the reintroduction possible. You can apply from Monday 19 June via MijnDUO. Students who already receive a student grant or have already applied for it will receive a message from DUO. A campaign will also start on 19 June to remind (prospective) students to submit their applications before 1 September. This means that DUO can actually pay out the basic grant for the first time in September.
HBO and WO students are entitled to the basic grant if they start their studies in the academic year 2023-2024 or if they are still entitled to student finance in the form of a performance-related grant. Students living away from home receive € 274.90 per month, students living at home receive € 110.30. In the 2023-2024 academic year, an additional € 164.30 per month will be added for the duration of one year for all students living away from home (including MBO students) due to the sharply increased costs of groceries and energy, among other things. A student living away from home therefore receives a total of almost € 440 in September, for the entire academic year 2023-2024 this is a total of more than € 5,200.
The government is making an annual budget of €1 billion for the reintroduction of the basic grant. The temporary purchasing power measure among students is an incidental expenditure of € 500 million.
Expand supplementary grant
The basic grant is not the only source of income for students. Think of a side job, care and rent allowance, a parental contribution and possibly borrowing from DUO. For extra financial support and more equality of opportunity, students from low and middle incomes can also apply for the supplementary grant. The income limit will be extended to at least € 70,000, so that more students can claim a supplementary grant. This increases equality of opportunity in education. From September, the maximum supplementary grant is €416 per month.
Not all students who are entitled to it, also use the supplementary grant. That is why DUO adjusted the application screens at the beginning of this year. The supplementary grant is now automatically checked, so that it is easy to apply for the supplementary grant. The first results are very positive: the percentage of students applying for a supplementary grant has risen by no less than 24 percentage points since the beginning of this year, from 69 percent to 93 percent.
Equal conditions for repaying student loans
At the same time as the reintroduction of the basic grant, Minister Dijkgraaf is aligning the repayment regimes for student loans for MBO, HBO and WO students. This will create more equality between these education options. The regimes are currently still different for MBO (and higher education students from the old basic grant system) on the one hand and HBO and WO on the other: there are different repayment periods (15 and 35 years respectively) and different interest calculations. The leveling also applies to new MBO students in any case. MBO students who are already studying (and who will also receive a student grant after 1 August) may choose between the old and the new system. If you do not make a choice, as an MBO student you automatically transfer to the 35-year repayment regime. The repayment regime for higher education students will not change.
Allowance
The return of the basic grant means the end of the social loan system. As a gesture towards students who have studied under the student loan system for one or more years, an allowance will be made. For a (nominal) study period of 4 years, this amounts to € 1,436 per student. This allowance is also for students who have not received a student grant. In addition, approximately 375,000 students who studied in the first four cohorts (2015/16 to 2018/19) will receive an additional allowance to replace the study advance voucher of approximately € 1,835. The allowance is deducted from the student debt or – if you do not have such a debt – paid out.
More information can be found at the website of DUO.