Tips & FAQ Health insurance

Moving abroad to study in a Dutch higher education institution requires adequate preparation. Tons of questions might come to your head. Therefore we’ve written down a few Tips & FAQ’s to help you along the way. This page will provide you with an overview of frequently asked questions and interesting tips for your stay in Holland. We will especially focus on budget management.

Glossary Dutch healthcare insurance

In case you need to take out compulsory Dutch basic healthcare insurance, you might run into difficult terms and concepts in the insurance policy. To help you better understand these terms we’ve set up a glossary explaining the meaning of these words.

Check out our page glossary healthcare insurance for more information.

Budget for foreign students

In the Netherlands life is not cheap, it is a relatively expensive country. The tuition fees in the Netherlands depend on your country of origin. If you’re from the EU/EEA (including Switzerland), tuition fees start around €1.700 a year. Students from other continents usually pay a higher tuition fee between €6.000 and €12.000.

How to support yourself?

A lot of foreign students depend on their parents or on scholarships to financially support themselves. Another possibility is that you might have received a grant. Higher education for EU students is very accessible. For a reasonable price, you can enrol in a Dutch university or other higher education institute. The average monthly costs for the university tuition fee are €143. The average monthly costs of an EU student are €966. This is based on several inevitable costs you’ll have to make for a living. Think about your university tuition fee, your rent and your groceries.

Part time job

If necessary, you can look for a part-time job in the Netherlands besides your studies. If you decide to work in the Netherlands you will need to apply for Dutch healthcare insurance.

Non-EU students

Are you a non-EU student? In that case, you’ll need to prove that you are financially capable of supporting yourself in our country. Are you unable to do this? Then the institution won’t accept you as a student and the Dutch Ministry of Justice will deny your access to the country.

Part time job

The idea of working part-time might be very interesting for non-EU students to increase their budget. Bear in mind that as a non-EU student you are only allowed to work a maximum of 10 hours a week.

Tuition fee

If you are a non-EU student the tuition fee is much higher, there is a huge difference with students coming from another EU country, Suriname or Switzerland. The average costs are €12.000 a year, depending on the institute you want to go to. Read more about the budget for foreign students

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve received different questions from foreign visitors on our website. We’ve decided to bundle the most frequently asked questions on this page. Just to give you an idea, you can find the answers on the following questions on this page:

• Am I obliged to apply for Dutch health insurance? If so, what do I need for this? And what if I don’t apply?
• Do I need to register myself at a local town hall as an inhabitant in order to apply for insurance?
• What does basic healthcare mean?
• Where can I get the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)?

All these questions and more are answered on the FAQ page. Read more about Frequently Asked Questions

Checklist study in the Netherlands

When you’ve decided to study in the Netherlands, different arrangements and preparations have to be made. Since you have to think about and prepare a lot, a checklist can help you keep an overview and make sure you don’t forget about something. Some preparations have to be made from your home country, others can only be done upon arrival in the Netherlands.

Have a look at our checklist: study in the Netherlands