Scholarships in the Netherlands for International Students (2027/28)

Non-EU students can get scholarships in the Netherlands, but most are partial: the national NL Scholarship pays €5,000 in the first year, and university schemes usually cut part of the tuition fee. A few, such as Wageningen's Anne van den Ban Fund, cover tuition and living costs, but they are very competitive.

The key to winning one is timing. Many scholarship deadlines for the 2027/28 intake fall between December 2026 and February 2027. Here are the schemes we could verify on official pages, with amounts, eligibility and dates.

The NL Scholarship (formerly Holland Scholarship)

The NL Scholarship is a Dutch government and university scholarship. It gives €5,000 in the first year to non-EEA nationals starting a full-time bachelor's or master's program at a participating Dutch institution. You must meet the institution's requirements and must not already have a Dutch degree. Study in NL stresses it is not a full-tuition scholarship.

You apply through the institution, which sets its own deadline and chooses eligible programs, and the list of participating institutions changes every year. The 2026/27 round opened on 1 November 2025. For 2027/28, Saxion accepts scholarship applications from 1 November 2026 until 1 May 2027.

University scholarships for master's students

Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS)

LExS reduces tuition for excellent non-EEA master's applicants by one of five fixed amounts: €10,000, €15,000, €17,500, €18,500 or €19,000. It is not a full scholarship. You should be roughly in the top 10% of your graduating class and starting a full-time master's in September (non-advanced LLM and Law MSc programs are excluded).

• Deadline: 1 December 2026 for September 2027.
• Apply for the master's first, then select LExS in the application portal and upload a motivation letter of at most 500 words.
• Applicants hear by email before the end of March.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen offers several schemes for September 2027 MSc students. For all of them you must submit a complete MSc application, including English test and bachelor's diploma, before 1 December 2026.

Radboud, VU Amsterdam and TU Eindhoven

• Radboud Scholarship Programme: partial scholarships for talented non-EU/EEA students in English-taught master's programs; apply via Studielink by 31 January (September intake only).
• VU Fellowship Programme: merit-based tuition waiver for non-EU students; VU advises scholarship applicants to apply for their program by 1 December 2026, and most scholarship deadlines are 1 February.
• TU/e Scholarship for Excellence: for selected master's in Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics & Computer Science; apply by 1 January 2027, 23:59 CET. TU/e says it does not offer scholarships for bachelor's students.

Scholarships for bachelor's students

Bachelor's scholarships are rarer and mostly come from universities of applied sciences:

• HAN: up to €12,500 over a bachelor's (see table above), plus an Honors Scholarship of up to €7,500 for non-EU/EEA students who did not get the NL Scholarship but earn all first-year credits; no application needed.
• Breda University of Applied Sciences: BUas Bachelor Scholarship of €5,000 in year 1 plus €2,500 in following years for a limited number of non-EU students.
• Saxion Talent Scholarship: €2,750 for bachelor's students with GPA 75%+ and IELTS 6.0, applications 1 November 2026 to 1 May 2027.
• Hanze: some master's add a Hanze Scholarship contribution of €10,000 on top of the NL Scholarship.

HAN scholarship dates for September 2027

At Saxion you apply once and are considered first for the highest scholarship you qualify for, then for the next one. Results are emailed within 30 days after the 1 May deadline. Because both Saxion schemes use a lottery among eligible applicants, meeting the conditions does not guarantee an award.

What the NL Scholarship does not do

The €5,000 is paid during your first year, so it does not lower the amount you must show the IND or the money many universities ask for before the visa. Wageningen states that the NL Scholarship cannot be used to meet its payment requirements. Treat any partial scholarship as a bonus that eases year one, not as part of your visa funding.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters

Several Erasmus Mundus Joint Master programs include Dutch universities. Students of all nationalities can apply, and some programs offer scholarships to outstanding students. Most accept applications from October to January for the next academic year, directly through the consortium. Search the Erasmus Mundus catalogue.

Applicants from Afghanistan

Wageningen's Anne van den Ban Fund does list Afghanistan, but it is invitation-only: you are considered by submitting a complete MSc application before 1 December 2026. Otherwise, use institution scholarships such as the NL Scholarship and Leiden's LExS, and note that some institutions set earlier application deadlines for Afghan nationals.

All verified schemes at a glance

How to improve your chances (honestly)

• Meet the hard thresholds first. Many schemes publish a GPA of 80% or higher and a specific IELTS score; Saxion only accepts IELTS for its NL Scholarship.
• Apply for the program early. Most schemes need a complete program application, or even admission, before the scholarship deadline.
• Write a focused motivation letter. Leiden caps it at 500 words and does not accept changes after you submit.
• Apply to several institutions. Awards are limited and some use lotteries, so one application is a gamble.
• Plan without the scholarship. Partial awards still leave most tuition and living costs to you, and you must prove your funds for the visa.

How to apply: a scholarship timeline for September 2027

1. 1

   October–November 2026: shortlist

   Pick programs and check each university's scholarship page for eligibility and deadlines.

2. 2

   By 1 December 2026: early schemes

   Complete applications for Leiden LExS, Wageningen ABF, Africa Scholarship Programme and Excellence, and VU's advised date.

3. 3

   By 1 January 2027: TU/e

   Scholarship for Excellence applications close at 23:59 CET.

4. 4

   By 31 January–1 February 2027

   Radboud scholarship applicants apply via Studielink; VU's main scholarship deadline is 1 February.

5. 5

   November 2026–May 2027: NL Scholarship

   Apply through the institution before its own deadline.

Most awards still leave a gap you must cover, so read cost of studying in the Netherlands and the student visa guide. Wageningen notes that the NL Scholarship cannot be used to meet its payment requirements. Back to the complete Netherlands study guide, or track deadlines for free on FindUniPath.