Holland Scholarship
Offered by Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science with Dutch universities (now the "NL Scholarship")
About this scholarship
The Holland Scholarship — now branded the NL Scholarship — is a partial scholarship for international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who want to study a full-time bachelor's or master's degree in the Netherlands. It is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science together with several Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences. The award is €5,000, paid once during the first year of study; it is explicitly not a full-tuition scholarship, so students should plan additional funding. You cannot apply through a central portal: you first apply for admission to a participating Dutch institution, then apply for the NL Scholarship directly through that institution, providing an admission offer (or proof you are being considered). Each participating institution sets its own deadline — commonly 1 February or 1 May — so applicants must check the website of their chosen university; the 2026-27 round opened on 1 November 2025. A list of participating institutions is published each year on the official Study in NL website.
Eligibility
- Hold a non-EEA nationality
- Apply for a full-time bachelor's or master's at a participating Dutch institution
- Have an admission offer or be in the admission process at that institution
- Apply for the scholarship through your chosen institution by its deadline
- Meet the institution's own specific requirements
This opens the official program page — look for the “Apply” button there. Always verify amounts and deadlines on the official site; they change each cycle.
Last verified by us: 2026-06-01.