NL Scholarship (formerly Holland Scholarship)

The name changed before the substance did, and both are worth being precise about. What used to be called the Holland Scholarship is now officially the NL Scholarship, part of the Netherlands' broader shift from "Holland" branding to "NL" branding across its international education promotion. Some institutional pages still use the old URL path out of habit, so you'll see both names in circulation — they refer to the same award. What hasn't changed is the amount, and it's worth stating plainly up front: this is a one-time payment of 5,000 euros in your first year of study, and the Dutch government's own materials are explicit that it is "not a full-tuition scholarship." If you're comparing it against a fully funded award like MEXT or Türkiye Bursları, it's playing a different role entirely.

What it actually is, and isn't

Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, coordinates the programme, but the actual funding comes jointly from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the participating universities themselves — around 35 institutions across 11 research universities and 24 universities of applied sciences for the current cycle. It's a contribution toward your first-year costs, not a package that covers tuition, housing, or living expenses on its own. For many international students, Dutch tuition and living costs for a full year comfortably exceed 5,000 euros, so the practical role this scholarship plays is offsetting a meaningful chunk of year-one costs while you fund the rest through savings, a part-time job, or another source, not replacing the need for one.

How the money reaches you

Because both the funding and the selection are decentralised, there's no single national application. Each participating institution decides independently which of its own bachelor's and master's programmes the scholarship attaches to, runs its own selection process for its own allocation of awards, and sets its own closing date — commonly clustered around January, though this varies enough between universities that you need to check your specific institution's page rather than assume a shared deadline. Applicants who already hold a previous degree from a Dutch institution are not eligible, since the award is aimed specifically at students making their first move to Dutch higher education from abroad.

Who's eligible

Eligibility is defined by nationality rather than income or academic merit criteria beyond normal admission standards: any non-EEA nationality qualifies, covering the large majority of international applicants worldwide, since EEA students already have access to EU tuition rates and other funding routes. Language requirements are set by the specific programme rather than centrally, which in practice means the standard IELTS or TOEFL thresholds for whichever course you're applying to.

How to apply, institution by institution

1. Choose a participating Dutch institution and confirm which specific bachelor's or master's programmes at that institution currently offer the NL Scholarship — not every programme at a participating university necessarily does
2. Apply for regular admission to that programme directly through the institution
3. Submit that institution's own separate NL Scholarship application alongside your admission application — commonly a motivation letter, a CV and academic transcripts, though exact requirements vary
4. Each institution runs its own review and notifies successful applicants directly, independent of any other university's process
5. The award is paid out through the institution during your first year of study

Making 5,000 euros worth applying for

Because there's no penalty for applying and being turned down beyond the time invested, and because the application usually piggybacks on materials you're already preparing for admission — a motivation letter and transcripts you'd need anyway — this is a comparatively low-cost scholarship to apply for relative to its value. The main mistake applicants make is skipping it because 5,000 euros sounds modest next to the fully funded awards elsewhere on this site, without factoring in that it costs very little extra effort to add to an application you're submitting regardless.

What makes it different

Every other scholarship covered here funds a specific, defined package tied to one national or institutional process. The NL Scholarship is closer to a coordinated discount scheme spread across three dozen independent competitions than a single scholarship — genuinely useful, genuinely accessible given its modest ask, but honest about what it is: a contribution, not a full ride, and worth applying for on those terms rather than being mistaken for one.