Scholarships are a great alternative to student finance when it comes to funding your studies.
Scholarships in the Netherlands are great because there's one for everyone (really, there is). If you're an EU student, you technically still count as an international student when you study at a Dutch university. Therefore, you should also have the 411 on how to finance your studies! Here, we want to dive a bit deeper into EU student scholarships.
So, grab your coffee and take a seat, because here are 3 scholarships that EU students should know about.
Erasmus Programme +
This scholarship is not specifically just for EU students, but rather is a scholarship for anyone wishing to study abroad for a semester or a few in the EU. With Erasmus +, you can find the perfect exchange in almost 40 countries. This also applies if you want to volunteer abroad! A lot of universities are part of the Erasmus program which means that they provide support when students want to study abroad. Basically, if you take part in Erasmus +, you can apply for an Erasmus Scholarship.
You will be awarded a grant, called the Erasmus + EU Grant, which covers travel and other costs during your exchange period. Nice, right? What's even better is that you don't have to pay the fees, registration, or any other costs at the host university where you spend your exchange. This goes for all Erasmus + students, regardless of whether you get the grant or not. You can find out more about this particular scholarship on the Erasmus website.
Moreover, you can be a student at any level, from Bachelor's to Masters to a PhD.
Erasmus Mundus
This is one of the most widely-known EU student scholarships worldwide.
In short, this scholarship is called the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) for Master's students from around the world. With this EU-funded scholarship, you must study in at least two of the countries involved for 12 to 24 months. This includes EU countries (Germany, Sweden, etc) & non-EU countries (Norway, Turkey, etc). To apply for this scholarship, you have to have a Bachelor's degree at a recognized level. With this scholarship, your tuition fees, travel, and other costs can be covered for the whole of your study program.
Basically, if you choose this scholarship, you'll get either a joint degree or multiple degrees.
Find out more about Erasmus Mundus on their website where you'll also learn how to apply!
NN Future Matters
The NN Future Matters scholarship is designed for EU students as well as Turkish and Japanese who want to study for a Master's degree in Holland. If you are from either the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Japan or Turkey, this is for you.
With this scholarship, you can get a one-time grant of €5,000*!
You have to apply for a master's degree in either finance, risk, management or economics. A lot of Dutch universities participate in the NN Future Matters and you can find out if the college of your choice is one of them on their website. These include Utrecht University, Erasmus University, Maastricht University, and a few others. You are also required to have a minimum score of 7 out of 10 on your BA. In addition, you must be a first-generation academic in your family (no parent or guardian has a bachelor’s degree). Participating institutions also have their own specific requirements. You will find these on their websites. During the scholarship and your studies, you will be partnered with an NN-mentor, who will coach you through your studies.
*Students from Turkey and Japan receive a larger scholarship of €17,000. This includes the tuition fee; since Turkey and Japan are both non-EEA countries, students must pay a higher tuition fee. This is why the grant is higher.
EU Student Scholarships for Specific Universities
Aside from the previous two EU student scholarships, you can also find scholarships and grants relating to specific universities or courses. To find this, head on over to your university of choice's website and find their 'scholarship' pages. There are lots of different types of scholarships to be found, differing in duration and eligibility!
Furthermore, Study in Holland has a long and extensive list of scholarships for every type of student. You'll need to do a little bit of digging to find the ones that are applicable to you.
In conclusion, there might not be as many scholarships for EU students as there are for non-EU students but that doesn't mean that there aren't any! There are lots of resources for you to check out when it comes to EU student scholarships, starting here.
Once you've become an expert on student scholarships, you can look for more information about student financing so that you really know everything about financing your studies!