Ukrainian youth in the Netherlands threaten one Lost Generation to be. Unlike status holders, they are not entitled to education after their eighteenth birthday, they do not receive a student finance and therefore often opt for unqualified work against low reward. “This way the talent of thousands of younger Ukrainians remains unused-for the Netherlands and for Ukraine,” said a memorandum from the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF), which will be published soon.
Director-director Mir Huisman of the UAF says in a telephone explanation that she is “worried about a fairly large part of this group”. That is due to the status of Ukrainians who are taken care of as war refugees in the Netherlands. They do not fall under the rules of asylum rights, but under a temporary protection directive, which is always extended.
In June, the European Commission decided to extend the temporary reception of Ukrainians in the EU from March 4, 2026 to March 4, 2027 – a year, without the prospect of the war that Russia started against their country. The European ministers are expected to ratify this decision on Tuesday.
Because Ukrainian young adults are not entitled to education, they have to pay much more tuition fees at educational institutions than Dutch students or status holders. That legal tuition fee is around 2,600 euros. The tuition fees for foreign students – also for the Ukrainians received – is between 8,000 and 15,000 euros per year.
Language education
There is another difference between Ukrainians and other refugees: the first group is not entitled to integration, because they only enjoy temporary protection here. “They are therefore not automatically eligible for the Dutch language lessons,” says Huisman. The UAF therefore invests in language education for this group.
Huisman: “The legal inequality that arises by dropping these people under a temporary protection rule instead of under the asylum legislation, is starting to become very poignant. This takes a year or two and then you go back, then it is to oversee for three years now and the chance that this has ended in the short term, I am not voted for that positively.”
The legal inequality that arises because they do not fall under the asylum legislation is starting to become very poignant
According to Huisman, it is a group of five to seven thousand young adult Ukrainians who, if you compare them with your average Dutch people, would like to continue learning after secondary education. An indication of interest is the thousand Ukrainians who reported to the UAF in 2024 with questions about studying. In the meantime, the Stichting van Huisman has been able to make agreements with 21 educational institutions about allowing Ukrainians against the statutory tuition fees. “We also receive financing from the ministry,” said Huisman.
In total, the UAF has now been able to deliver 250 Ukrainian refugees to a HBO or university. “A drop on the glowing plate,” says Huisman. For the coming academic year, 2025/26, she had to reject 150 young people. “We have insufficient budget for them.”
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Handful
The UAF depends on the educational institutions for this form of assistance. “The cost of a study is between 30,000 and 50,000 euros a year. If we succeed in registering a Ukrainian for the statutory tuition fees, then the university or university is running out. I understand that they cannot do that unlimited, with all the cuts that come to them.”
That is why UAF makes some recommendations in his memorandum. The most important condition is that the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act is adjusted in such a way that the young people who now fall under a temporary guideline for protection receive the same rights as students from the European Union and a handful of other European countries. In this way, Ukrainian students would from now on gain access to higher education against the statutory tuition fees.
Even when they can go to Ukraine again, it is much needed that they get trained people back for reconstruction
According to the UAF memorandum, the costs of this have already been calculated by the Ministry of Education: structurally rising from 12 million in 2026 to 87 million euros in 2029. “That calculation was too high for the ministry,” says Huisman.
Why should the ministry reconsider the decision at such a high price?
Huisman: “If those young people stay in the Netherlands, they will still have to land here. You can’t just keep doing that by having them keep side jobs in the hospitality industry. And even if they can go to Ukraine again, it is very necessary that they get trained people back for reconstruction.”
Future
Huisman warns that the problems that young Ukrainians now have in the near future can also apply to other groups of refugees. The Chamber has agreed to the shortening of the residence papers for asylum seekers.
Such a short period of extended protection entails enormous uncertainty, says Huisman. “If you know that you can stay somewhere for a certain period, you are more inclined to invest in your own future sustainably. If I don’t know if I am still in the Netherlands next year, I don’t know if I want to take out a loan to start a study. I don’t even know if I can complete it.”
According to Huisman, the potential of a group of citizens is wasted. “The Netherlands is short of itself.”
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