The Maastricht University (UM) NL-High Potential Scholarship programme offers 21 full scholarships (including tuition fee waiver and monthly stipend) each academic year for highly talented students from outside the European Union (EU) who have been admitted to a master’s programme at UM.

The Scholarship programme consists of both the High Potential Scholarship (funded by the Maastricht University Scholarship Fund) and the NL Scholarship, which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in conjunction with Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. It is aimed at international students from outside the EU/EEA who wish to follow a full degree programme in the Netherlands.

ELIGIBILITY:

All candidates must meet the following requirements:

You hold a nationality in a country outside the EU/EEA, Switzerland or Suriname and meet the requirements for obtaining an entry visa and residence permit for the Netherlands. Please check this website before you apply to see in which country you have to collect your MVV visa for the Netherlands. If you already have a residence permit for another Schengen country, you can only apply if this residence permit is still valid until at least 2 September 2026. If your residence permit expires before 2 September 2026 you can only apply for the Scholarship from your home country via an MVV visa application. More information can be found on the webpages of the Visa Office.

You do not have dual nationality from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland. 

You have applied for admission to a participating full-time master’s programme at Maastricht University for the 2026-2027 academic year before 8 December 2025.

Participating programmes 2026-2027 
For participating programmes for academic year 2027-2028 you can apply from 1 October 2026 onwards. Please check this link: Participating programmes 2027-2028

You meet the specific admission requirements of the UM master programme to which you have applied.

You have never participated in a degree-seeking higher education programme in the Netherlands. Students who have completed exchange programmes in the Netherlands are welcome to apply.

Preference will be given to candidates who have not yet obtained a Master’s degree.

You are not older than 35 years of age on 1 September 2026.

You have obtained excellent results during your prior education programmes, as demonstrated by your latest grade transcript showing a GPA of 7.5 out of 10 or higher.

You agree to become an active UM NL High Potential and UM ambassador during and after your studies, by committing to share your experiences during at least one (information)
 session for students and/or other stakeholders.

You can only submit an application once and for one Scholarship only. Please make sure all documents meet the requirements before you start your application. We cannot add or replace documents after you submit the application.

Duration of the UM NL-High Potential scholarship

13 months for a one-year master programme

25 months for a two-year master programme

BENEFIT:

Amount of the UM NL-High Potential scholarship programme:

Living expenses	€ 15,925* (13 months) or € 30,625* (25 months)	Paid to students by the UM International Services Desk
Health & liability insurance	€ 700*	Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk
Visa application costs	At cost	Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk
Tuition fees	At cost	Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk
Pre-Academic Training costs	At cost	Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk
International Student Ambassador Programme (ISAP)	At cost for first block only	Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk