NOSE Helen Kret
ANNOUNCEMENTS••Edited
The announced increase in the basic scholarship for non-resident students should not only apply to the next academic year, but also to the academic years 2024/25 and 2025/26 as well. The majority of the House of Representatives supports a proposal on the matter by D66, CDA and ChristenUnie. The plan will be discussed today during the Education Budget discussion.
The basic scholarship will return starting from the next academic year: a fixed amount that students receive each month and which they will not have to repay if they graduate within 10 years. This puts an end to the controversial loan scheme.
Around Prinsjesdag it was announced that the agreed amount for off-site students would be temporarily increased by 165 euros, due to huge inflation, which made food and energy much more expensive. As a result, an off-site student can count on almost 440 euros per month in 2023/24.
From September 2024, the basic allowance would return to the original amount of around 275 euros for out-of-office people. But a parliamentary majority wants to extend the extra subsidy. It is not yet clear how much exactly the supplement should be, but the subsidy will likely be around 375 euros per month.
More security for students
The government parties want to allocate a total of 425 million euros for it. They want to give MBO and higher education students more certainty about their financial situation. Coalition partner VVD supports the motion to be tabled in this regard, with which there is a majority.
To pay for the extension of the compensatory inflation, the parties want to use the money that will be saved if the halving of university fees for freshmen is canceled from 2024. This was a measure to make higher education more accessible.
Young people had to be stimulated to study, despite the student loan system. In the new system with a basic grant, this incentive is no longer needed, the government believes.
Instead of halving tuition fees, Minister Dijkgraaf wants more students to be eligible for an additional scholarship, in addition to the basic one. But according to the parliamentary majority, there will still be enough money to supplement the beneficiaries of the basic allowance even after the summer of 2024.
Students living at home do not receive a supplement. They will receive a basic scholarship of around 110 euros per month from September 2023 and will remain so.
