I am not or will no longer be studying. What happens now?
If you have you completed or almost completed your course, or you have dropped your course altogether, you will need to make a number of arrangements. What these are depends on your situation. If you have graduated or got your qualification, the amount you owe might be adjusted.
You can arrange this
If you’ve completed your course, you need to unenroll otherwise you will still be charged tuition fees. Ask your school/university how you can unenroll. You will no longer be entitled to student finance from the date of your unenrollment.
Continuing your studies in the Netherlands
Are you planning to continue your studies in the Netherlands? You can sometimes get student finance to cover the period between courses. Inform DUO of your new course (information in Dutch). Do this before the date on which you unenroll from your old course.
If you are no longer enrolled at a school or university, you are no longer entitled to student finance. End your student finance in Mijn DUO. If you live outside the Netherlands and cannot log in to Mijn DUO, you can end your student finance by completing the change of details form.
Find out more about ending student finance (DUO) (information in Dutch)
Change of details form for students in higher education abroad (pdf, 174 kB) (information in Dutch)
Change of details form for students in vocational education abroad (pdf, 161 kB) (information in Dutch)
You can cancel a student travel product at a public transport ticket vending machine in the Netherlands. You can find these machines in bus and railway stations and shops. If you are outside the Netherlands and want to cancel your student travel product, please contact the OV-chipkaart Customer Service. If you wait too long to cancel your student travel product and you continue travelling with it, you will receive a fine.
Find out more about cancelling the student travel product (DUO) (information in Dutch)
Updating your email address
If the email address you used to contact DUO is linked to your school or university, you will no longer be able to use it once you have unenrolled. Change your email address in Mijn DUO, so you will not miss any messages. If you live outside the Netherlands and cannot log in to Mijn DUO, you can opt to receive messages about your student finance by post (information in Dutch).
Change of address
If you are moving from the Netherlands to another country, or if your address outside the Netherlands is changing, inform DUO of your new address in Mijn DUO. If you are moving abroad, you will also need to deregister from your Dutch municipality. The municipality will ensure that your new address is entered in the Non-residents Records Database (RNI, part of the Personal Records Database (BRP)).
Are you moving within the Netherlands or (back) to the Netherlands? Then you must register with the municipality. The municipality automatically transmits the address to DUO.
Find out what arrangements you need to make before you move abroad
If you drop your course, you can in some cases reclaim tuition fees you paid in excess. Contact your HBO institution or university for more information on reclaiming tuition fees.
School fees for a vocational education (MBO) course in the Netherlands are always for a full year. You can sometimes reclaim some of the fees you have already paid, but you need to apply for reimbursement yourself. You can do so up to the last day of the school year.
Find out more about reclaiming school fees (DUO) (information in Dutch)
If you got your qualification outside the Netherlands, your performance-related grant might be deducted from your student loan. But this will not happen automatically. You must send your diploma or certificate and any other documents to DUO. You will then hear what the consequences are for your student loan.
Find out how to send your diploma to DUO (DUO) (information in Dutch)
If you are going to use your foreign qualification to work or continue your studies in the Netherlands, there are number of things you need to keep in mind. For instance, you might need certain other documents in addition to your diploma or certificate. Or you might have to ask permission to work in the Netherlands.
Find out what you need to do to use a foreign qualification in the Netherlands
If you are going to use your Dutch qualification to study or work abroad, there are number of things you need to keep in mind. For instance, you might need certain other documents in addition to your diploma or certificate. Or you might have to ask permission to work in that country.
Find out what you need to do to use your Dutch qualification abroad
If you acquired a student loan while you were studying, you do not need to start repaying it immediately. You will have a 2-year grace period, starting on 1 January following the year in which your student finance stopped. In this period, you do not have to repay your loan, though you may do so if you wish. After this grace period, you will be obliged to make monthly repayments.
If you withdraw from an MBO level 3 or 4, HBO or university course in the first year, you will not have to repay your grant or your student travel product or public transport allowance, provided you end your student finance by 1 February. But you will have to repay a loan. Have you completed your MBO programme and are you continuing your studies in HBO from the 2023-2024 academic year or later? Then you have until the end of the 1st academic year, that is 1 September, to stop your student finance. Read more about the first year scheme on the DUO website.
Do you want to find out more about repaying your student loan?
Logging in to Mijn DUO
If you want to arrange your student finance through Mijn DUO, you will need a DigiD or EU-recognised eID.
Contact
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.