Student finance (DUO), student jobs and internships for international students

Studiefinanciering (student finance) is paid by DUO, the Dutch education executive agency. Dutch students get it automatically if they are under 30 when it starts and follow a recognised full-time programme. For international students it depends on nationality and on what you do besides studying: check your situation against DUO's conditions before you count on it.

If you are from the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK, you qualify as a migrant worker if you have paid work in the Netherlands of at least 32 hours a month, or an income of at least 50 percent of the social assistance norm: 700.75 euros a month in 2026, or 173 euros a month if you are under 21. If you have worked for 6 months or more, an average of 24 hours a month can be enough. Between 24 and 32 hours DUO decides case by case, and below 24 hours on average you are not entitled. Living in the Netherlands for 5 or more years in a row also qualifies, and so does having a parent or partner who is an EU migrant worker. UK nationals need an Article 50 residence document.

If you are from outside the EU, you need Dutch nationality or a residence permit of type II, III, IV or V. A normal study permit is a type I permit and is not on that list, so most non-EU students cannot get student finance. Some type I holders qualify, for example through a family member; DUO has an online check for this. Students who fall under the EU temporary protection directive (Ukraine) do not qualify.

Self-employed EU students can qualify too, but then DUO looks at turnover, hours and whether the business is real economic activity.

Student finance has four parts. For university and HBO students from September 2026, the monthly maximums are: basic grant (basisbeurs) 324.52 euros if you live away from home or 130.21 euros if you live with your parents; supplementary grant (aanvullende beurs) up to 491.08 euros depending on your parents' income; an interest-bearing loan of 315.17 euros; and a tuition fee loan (collegegeldkrediet) of 224.50 euros. Together that is up to 1,355.27 euros a month for a student living away from home.

The tuition fee loan is meant for the tuition fee and can never be more than the fee you owe. If you pay the higher institutional tuition fee, as most non-EU students do, the tuition fee loan can go up to 1,122.50 euros a month, but you can only use it if you qualify for student finance in the first place.

The basic grant, the supplementary grant and the student travel product are a performance-related grant: they become a gift if you get your diploma within 10 years. If you do not, you pay them back. The loan and the tuition fee loan are always repaid with interest after your studies.

Each part can be switched on or off separately in Mijn DUO. Many students take the grants and the travel product and leave the loan switched off.

The studentenreisproduct lets you travel free or at a discount by train (2nd class), bus, tram and metro throughout the Netherlands. You choose a weekday or a weekend version. You load it onto a personal OV-chipkaart or OV-pay account.

You can only get it if you are entitled to student finance, under the same nationality rules. So an EU student who works 32 hours a month can get it; a non-EU student on a study permit cannot. You must apply for it even if you take no other student finance, and DUO says the migrant worker condition applies to the travel product alone as well.

For HBO and university students the travel product is part of the performance-related grant: a monthly amount is added to your debt and forgiven if you graduate within 10 years. Whether you actually travel does not matter. If you stop being entitled, stop the product in Mijn DUO at once, otherwise you pay a fine for every half month you keep it.

• Register with the gemeente to get your BSN, then request a DigiD (letter within 3 working days).
• Log in to Mijn DUO and apply for student finance. Choose which parts you want.
• Upload your signed employment contract, your latest payslip and the matching bank statement. If you work fewer than 32 hours a month, send payslips and bank statements for the last 6 months.
• You can upload only once in Mijn DUO, so collect everything before you press confirm. Documents can also follow within 4 weeks.
• Expect a decision within 8 weeks. The supplementary grant can take longer because DUO asks the Belastingdienst about your parents' income.
• On a zero-hours or on-call contract you first get 6 months. On a short fixed-term contract at least 3 months. To continue, reapply with new payslips.
• No Mijn DUO access yet? A paper form exists, but it is slower.

Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland can work in the Netherlands without any permit and without an hours limit. The only things to arrange are a BSN, a bank account and Dutch health insurance once you earn.

Students from outside the EU on a Dutch study residence permit may work as an employee only if the employer holds a tewerkstellingsvergunning (TWV) for them, and only up to 16 hours a week, or full time in June, July and August. You choose one of the two; you cannot combine them in the same year. The employer applies at the UWV employer portal; you cannot apply yourself. For working students the UWV does not ask for supporting documents, the pay must be in line with the market, and the permit is valid for at most 1 year. UWV usually decides within 5 weeks, so start the paperwork before your first shift.

Working as a freelancer or self-employed person is allowed without a TWV as long as you keep meeting your permit conditions, but you must register with the KVK and pay tax. Many students do this for tutoring, design or coding gigs. The 16-hour limit does not formally apply to self-employed work, but the IND can still check that studying is your main activity.

Whatever your nationality, you are entitled to the minimum wage for your age. From 1 July 2026 the gross hourly minimum is 14.99 euros at 21 and over, 11.99 euros at 20, 8.99 euros at 19, 7.50 euros at 18 and 5.92 euros at 17. Holiday allowance of 8 percent comes on top. Typical student jobs (supermarkets, hospitality, delivery, campus jobs) often pay close to this minimum, so check the age column on your payslip.

If you only study, you normally stay insured in your home country (EHIC card) or have a private student policy, and you may not take out Dutch basic insurance. The moment you have a paid job in the Netherlands, this flips: you become compulsorily insured under the Dutch system and must take out a basic policy within 4 months. A basic policy costs around 150 euros a month in 2026, but with a student income you can get most of that back as healthcare benefit (zorgtoeslag), about 129 euros a month at the maximum.

If you get a letter from the CAK saying you are uninsured, act within 3 months. The fine is 529.72 euros, and the CAK sends such letters also to students who are in fact correctly insured abroad, so answer it rather than ignoring it.

For internships the rule changed on 1 September 2025. Non-EU students are insured, and must take a Dutch policy, only if the internship allowance is at least the Dutch minimum wage. EU students on a paid internship are insured if they are covered by Dutch employee insurance, which the internship company or UWV can tell you. Unpaid internships do not create an insurance obligation.

An internship that is part of your Dutch study programme does not need a TWV. Instead the law requires a three-party internship agreement signed by you, your university and the company. Nuffic publishes a standard internship agreement for non-EU and EEA students that most HBO institutions use; research universities such as TU/e use the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) template. The company and the university must both keep a copy, because the Dutch Labour Inspectorate can ask for it.

A non-EU student enrolled at a university outside the Netherlands who wants to do an internship here does need a TWV, which the host company applies for at UWV. Erasmus+ and other European programme participants are exempt.

There are no legal rules on internship pay; it is agreed between you and the company. An allowance that only covers expenses is not taxed. A common range in the Brainport region is a few hundred euros a month, but this is not a legal figure.

You can combine an internship that is part of your programme with a 16-hour TWV job, but the hours of a paid internship do not count towards the 16 hours as long as it is part of the programme. Ask your study adviser before signing.

• TU/e Career Academy: coaching, CV and LinkedIn walk-ins, career workshops and the company contact programme. Book via the ESA Desk in MetaForum. Your own department also lists internship and graduation projects.
• Fontys: each institute has its own internship coordinator and company network. Fontys and TU/e also offer career coaching up to a year after you graduate.
• Brainport Eindhoven keeps an overview of current internships with direct links to the employers. Many ASML, Philips, NXP, VDL and Signify internships are posted on the companies' own career pages.
• Study in NL (Nuffic) explains the rules for working and interning in English and has a flyer from the ministry on student restrictions.
• For part-time jobs, try the campus (student assistant, lab support, Sports Centre), supermarkets and hospitality in the centre, and student job agencies. Say upfront if you need a TWV; some employers will not do the paperwork, others do it routinely.
• Student associations and the TU/e student teams are a good route into companies that later offer internships.

• Thinking a study residence permit gives you DUO student finance. It does not, unless you have a type II to V permit or Dutch nationality.
• Starting a job before the TWV is in: both you and the employer can be fined, and the IND can withdraw your permit.
• Working more than 16 hours a week on a non-EU study permit outside June, July and August.
• Keeping only your home-country insurance after you start a paid job. You must switch to Dutch basic insurance within 4 months.
• Not keeping payslips and bank statements for DUO's checks on the 32 hours a month.
• Forgetting to stop the travel product when your student finance ends; every half month costs a fine.
• Accepting an internship without the three-party agreement; the company may then be employing you illegally.