The Reintroduction of the Basic Grant: Students to Receive Financial Support Again

NOS

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 05:12

465,852 students from universities and colleges will again have stufi credited to their account, just like before. Eight years after the basic grant was abolished by the cabinet, it is back as of today.

Students living at home will now receive 110.30 euros per month. For students living away from home, this is 439.20 euros, including a temporary increase of 164.30 euros to improve purchasing power. In total, more than 130 million will be paid out.

Benefit agency DUO received tens of thousands more applications than expected. Based on the number of students who borrowed last year, the preliminary estimate was that 435,000 students from higher professional education and university education would be entitled to student financing. Students who have not yet submitted an application can also do so retroactively for the remainder of the academic year.

According to DUO, there is now much less borrowing: the number of students with a loan fell by more than 93,000. The average loan amount is also less, 575 euros compared to 677 euros last year.

Performance grant

The reintroduction of the basic grant puts an end to the ‘social loan system’ that was introduced in 2015, under which students could borrow money at a reduced rate. The idea behind this was that students with wealthy parents did not need a contribution from the government, so that the money could be used to improve education.

The loan system soon came under criticism because students built up high debts. Eighteen months ago, the cabinet therefore decided to reintroduce the basic grant. Students who had studied in the meantime (“the unlucky generation”) could receive compensation of up to 1,400 euros.

The new basic grant is a performance-related grant: it is a loan that is converted into a gift if the diploma is obtained within ten years.

2023-09-22 03:12:31
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