Tuition fee

The amount of tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors. These are your nationality, your study programme and whether you have already obtained a Dutch higher education diploma.

Your nationality, study programme and previous Dutch higher education qualifications determine the amount of tuition fee you have to pay. There are five categories of tuition fee:

• The statutory tuition fee
• The institutional tuition fee for non-government subsidised study programmes
• The institutional tuition fee for students who are not nationals of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland.
• The institutional tuition fee for a second Dutch degree programme
• Pre-master or conversion programmes

Statutory tuition fee

The statutory tuition fee applies if you are going to follow a government-subsidised study programme, which is not a second degree programme, and you are are a national of: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.

The statutory tuition fee applies whether you study full time or part time.
The statutory tuition fee is: €2,083 (2019-2020 academic year)
The statutory tuition fee is: €2,060 (2018-2019 academic year)

Non-government subsidised study programmes

Some programmes are not subsidised by the Dutch government. For programmes of this type an institutional tuition fee applies. The amount varies from programme to programme.

Students who are not nationals of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland

If you are not a national of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland you must generally pay an institutional tuition fee. However if, on the basis of your Dutch residence permit, you are eligible for student finance from the Dutch education agency (DUO) you are entitled to pay statutory tuition fee. Information on qualifying residence permits can be found in the DUO nationality chart.

If you do not qualify for Dutch student finance and you are not a national of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland, you can find the amount of tuition fee you are required to pay for your study programme here below. These tariffs apply for both full-time and part-time study. 

Please note! If you are going to study at Leiden University via a cooperation agreement, the tariffs stated in the agreement apply.

Second Dutch master’s programme

If you are going to take a second Dutch master’s  programme, you will generally have to pay an institutional tuition fee that is higher than the statutory tuition fee.

If you obtained a Dutch bachelor’s, doctoraal, ingenieurs or HBO (bachelor’s degree from a university of applied sciences) diploma  after 1991, and you are a national of an EEA country (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), Suriname or Switzerland, the following institutional tuition fees apply.

Did you commence a bachelor’s programme at Leiden University before 2010, and will you continue directly onto a second Master’s programme in the year you complete your bachelor’s programme, or in the following year? If so you are entitled to pay a statutory tuition fee in accordance with a transitional ruling (also see ‘Exceptions’). 

Please note! Other tariffs apply for students who are not nationals of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland. Please refer to the information in the section ‘Students who are not nationals of an EEA country, Suriname or Switzerland’.

Are you unsure whether you have to pay statutory tuition fee or an institutional fee? Consult our tuition fee flowchart for second Master’s programmes (2019/2020).

Exceptions
In some cases, nationals of EEA countries, Suriname or Switzerland may be permitted to pay tuition fees set at the same amount as the statutory tuition fee for their second degree programme.

• If your second degree programme is in the field of healthcare or teacher training you are entitled to pay institutional tuition fees set at the same amount as the statutory tuition fee.
• If you begin your second bachelor’s or master’s programme while you are still following your first bachelor's or master’s programme, you may pay an institutional tuition fee set at the same amount as statutory tuition fee for your second degree programme – on condition that you remain continuously registered as a student.
• If you begin a second bachelor’s or master's programme at Leiden University in the academic year directly following the year in which you obtained your first bachelor’s or master's degree at Leiden University you may pay an institutional tuition fee set at the same amount as the statutory tuition fee.

Pre-master or conversion programmes

Below 45 EC
If you are going to follow a pre-master's or conversion programme after completing a bachelor’s programme, you have to pay €34 per study credit (EC) if the programme is less than 45 ECs.

45 EC or more
For programmes of more than 45 ECs you have to pay the statutory tuition fee. If the pre-master's or conversion programme is more than 60 ECs – and therefore longer than one year - or if you are going to follow courses that are not  part of your conversion programme, you have to pay the institutional tuition fee for the programme in question (see second study programme). These fees apply to students of all nationalities.