The cost of studying in the Netherlands: two tuition tracks and the hidden items

The Netherlands has a feature few countries share: tuition is set in law as two distinct tracks, and which one applies to you depends on nationality, not on the institution.

Track one: the statutory fee

Statutory tuition fee: €2.694/năm
Mức học phí luật định (wettelijk collegegeld) năm học 2026–2027 — CHỈ dành cho sinh viên EEA, Thuỵ Sỹ và Suriname. Sinh viên Việt Nam đóng mức của trường (instellingscollegegeld), do từng trường tự đặt và luôn cao hơn.
Official source · checked 2026-08-25

This is the government-set rate for students from the EEA, Switzerland and Suriname. Vietnamese students are not in this group.

Track two: the institutional fee

Tuition for non-EEA students: €9.000–20.000/năm (cử nhân) · €12.000–30.000 (thạc sĩ)
Khoảng học phí trung bình cho sinh viên ngoài EEA theo Study in NL — mỗi trường một mức, phải tra đúng trang chương trình. Với chương trình đào tạo quy mô nhỏ, chuyên sâu, luật cho phép trường thu tối đa 5 lần mức luật định.
Official source · checked 2026-08-25

For non-EEA students each institution sets its own rate (instellingscollegegeld). The only figure worth trusting is the one on the page of the exact programme you are targeting — not an average, and not the rate at another university in the same city.

A detail few applicants know: for small-scale, intensive programmes the law permits institutions to charge up to five times the statutory rate. If you are looking at a university college or honours track, check before budgeting.

Living costs and the IND figure

Beyond tuition you must show sufficient living costs at the level the IND sets. This is not an institutional estimate; it is the legal threshold for the residence application.

IND living-cost requirement: €1.130,77/tháng
Mức IND yêu cầu cho bậc hbo/đại học, áp dụng 01/01–31/12/2026 (bậc mbo/trung học: €928,58/tháng). Thực tế trường thường yêu cầu chuyển đủ 12 tháng vào tài khoản của trường trước, rồi trả lại theo tháng.
Official source · checked 2026-08-25

In practice, real living costs in Amsterdam, Utrecht or Rotterdam run higher than in Groningen, Enschede or Maastricht, mostly through rent. Choosing a city is a financial decision, not only a preference.

The items not on the price list

• Rental deposit — usually the largest cash outlay of month one, and due before any of your money comes back from the institution.
• Health insurance — and if you take a job, the switch to Dutch basic insurance at a different premium.
• A bicycle — it sounds trivial, but it is your main transport, and a decent bike with a decent lock is not cheap. The cheapest bike is usually the one that gets stolen.
• Application, translation and courier fees — scattered, but they add up.
• Flights and settling-in costs — families budget tuition and living costs, then find the first month costs half again as much as later ones.

Budgeting so it holds

1. Take tuition from the exact programme page, noting the academic year.
2. Take the current IND living-cost figure and multiply by twelve.
3. Add a separate start-up sum: deposit, bicycle, household basics, flights.
4. Subtract scholarships only once you hold an award letter, never on expectation.
5. Do not count part-time earnings in the budget. See working while studying for why.

Check the official sources

• Study in NL — tuition fees
• IND — required amounts

Next steps

• Study in the Netherlands — overview
• The same topic across every destination
• School directory
• Talk to VNIS