Students are required to pay tuition fees for each academic year in which they are enrolled in a programme. There are two types of tuition fees.
The information below applies to both Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, but for the sake of clarity, the Bachelor’s programme is used as an example.
- Statutory tuition fees
In short, the statutory regulation means that every prospective student is entitled to one Bachelor’s programme and one subsequent Master’s programme upon payment of the statutory tuition fees. The amount of the statutory tuition fees varies per academic year. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the statutory tuition fee amounts to €2,601.
- Institutional tuition fees
If you have obtained a bachelor’s degree and wish to pursue another bachelor’s programme, or if you do not meet the statutory conditions, you will (usually) pay the institutional tuition fees. The institutional board sets the institutional tuition fees, which may vary per programme, group of programmes or group(s) of students. The institutional tuition fee is at least equal to the statutory tuition fee, but in practice it is often a multiple of that amount.
A second degree programme at the statutory tuition fee
There are two exceptions where you do not have to pay the institutional tuition fee for a second bachelor’s degree programme. In both cases, you pay the statutory tuition fee (see Second degree programme).
Tuition fees for private institutions
Private institutions are not funded by the government and the institutional tuition fees are therefore often considerably higher than the statutory tuition fees. The amount of the institutional tuition fees varies per programme and is determined by the private institution itself (consult the website of the educational institution in question). Naturally, the same quality requirements apply as for a government-funded university of applied sciences or university.
Tuition fees for a transition programme
If your higher professional education or university (preliminary) programme does not give you access to the master’s programme you wish to follow, in some cases you can follow a transition programme (pre-master’s). This is a programme designed to bring your knowledge and skills up to the required level.
Since the 2017-2018 academic year, the tuition fees for a transition programme have been capped at the statutory tuition fees. If you follow a transition programme of more than 60 ECTS or if you take courses that are not part of the transition programme, an institution may charge one and a half times the statutory tuition fees. As a transition programme student, you are always entitled to student finance from the 2018-2019 academic year onwards.