Application Deadline: 1 February 2027 (23:59 CET)
LOCATION: The Netherlands
The NL Scholarship (formerly Holland Scholarship Programme) is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Dutch research universities, and universities of applied sciences.
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.
Application criteria: No separate application is necessary. When applying for the VUFP scholarship, you automatically apply for the NL Scholarship as well. Eligibility criteria for the NL Scholarship are the same as for the VUFP.
Application procedure:
Follow the VUFP scholarship application (from 1 November 2026) Please follow the VUFP application process as described above. Deadline: 1 February 2027 (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 2027 (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 2027 (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If you do not take action within 2 weeks after receiving the results, the offer will be withdrawn.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 the 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.
Conditions NL Scholarship: The conditions for the NL Scholarship can be found here.
Contact: For any further questions, please contact us through this contact form.
The NL Scholarship is financially supported by VUvereniging: a social network of people who are connected to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
BENEFIT:
Scholarship amount
NL Scholarship is a contribution of €5,000 towards the costs of living 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 per year. Only a few of the VUFP awardees will get the NL Scholarship.
