ELIGIBILITY:

Students eligible for this scholarship are students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who are applying for the first year of a Master’s programme in the Netherlands. Students from Suriname and Switzerland are not eligible to apply for the NL Scholarship. 

When applying for the VUFP scholarship, you automatically apply also for the NL Scholarship. No separate application is necessary. Eligibility criteria for the NL Scholarship are the same as for the VUFP.

Follow the VUFP scholarship application (from 1 November 2025)
Please follow the VUFP application process as described above. Deadline: 1 February 2026 (23:59 CET)

Decision
The Central Scholarship Committee decides which students will be offered NL Scholarship.

Results
All students will receive an e-mail/ notification informing them of the Central Scholarship Committee’s decision concerning their application.  Expected date: mid-March 2026 (6 weeks after the deadline).

Acceptance of NL Scholarship offer
Selected candidates accept/decline the NL Scholarship offer in their personal VU dashboard. 

Deadline: end of March 2026 (2 weeks after the results have been published). Kindly note the following:

You can accept/decline the offer in your personal VU dashboard on vu.nl.

If you do not take action within 2 weeks after receiving the results, the offer will be withdrawn.

There are fewer NL Scholarships than VUFP. This means that not all VUFP recipients will receive NL Scholarship.

If you have not been awarded VUFP, you also have not been awarded NL Scholarship.

A scholarship granted for one academic year cannot be postponed to another academic year.

BENEFIT:

The NL Scholarship is a contribution towards the costs of living. It is €5,000 or €10,000 for the entire duration of your study period. Please note:

The NL Scholarship is awarded only for the first year of your study programme. You will not receive the NL Scholarship for the second year of your studies even if you are following a two-year study programme.

They have around 20-25 NL Scholarships available. Only a few of the VUFP awardees will get the NL Scholarship.