This week, Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker presented the first awards for the Netherlands’s new national scholarship programme this week during a breakfast at Schiphol Airport.
Announced last year, the Holland Scholarship will be awarded to 1,536 students annually, equally split between inbound international students and outbound domestic students.
“It’s fantastic to see how driven the students are to make something of their time studying”
“With the establishment of the Holland Scholarship programme the Netherlands has become more attractive for international students,” Freddy Weima, director general of EP-Nuffic, the body for international cooperation in the country’s higher education sector, told The PIE News.
“We know they appreciate the high level of our research universities and universities of applied sciences and our international study environment,” he added. “This new scholarship can be a final push to choose Holland.”
The Netherlands has the largest offer of English-taught courses in continental Europe, with more than 2,100 international study courses.
Qualifying international students will receive €5,000 to complete a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the Netherlands, while Dutch students will be given €1,250 to pursue a research or work placement outside Europe.
Minister Bussemaker breaks bread with students
Forty students travelling either to or from Schiphol on Tuesday were invited to join Bussemaker and directors of Dutch higher education institutions for the breakfast.
“It’s fantastic to see how driven the students are to make something of their time studying,” Bussemaker said, after speaking with the scholarship recipients.
“Thanks to the cooperation with the education institutions, the Holland Scholarship has become a truly international scholarship programme,” she added.
Scholarships are awarded on a merit basis at the discretion of higher education institutions.
The scholarship is funded by the ministry and by Dutch universities, while EP-Nuffic is helping with its implementation in an advisory capacity.
“We are really happy with the cooperation between the higher education institutions and the Ministry of Education in funding this programme and we are convinced it will also stimulate Dutch students to study abroad, since half of the scholarships are labelled for outgoing students,” Weima said.
