Two Dutch universities have Netherlands master’s scholarships for September 2027 with deadlines on 1 February 2027, and the steps before that start earlier. VU Amsterdam’s Fellowship Programme covers tuition and its Studielink registration is advised by 1 December 2026. Maastricht University runs a separate NL High Potential Scholarship. Both are aimed at students from outside the EU and EEA, and both require admission to a master’s programme first.
Contents
- VU Amsterdam Fellowship Programme
- Maastricht NL High Potential Scholarship
- Order of steps
- A worked example
- Choosing between them
- Dutch scholarship questions
VU Amsterdam Fellowship Programme
According to VU Amsterdam, the programme covers tuition fees only, with no allowance for rent, food or insurance. A small number of recipients also receive a one-off NL Scholarship of €5,000 toward first-year living costs, from roughly 20 to 25 available a year. Applicants need a non-EU/EEA passport, no Dutch nationality, and a bachelor’s GPA equivalent to a Dutch 8.0 on the 1 to 10 scale. They must be admitted, conditionally or unconditionally, to a full-time English-taught master’s starting in September 2027. February starts and joint programmes where VU does not run admissions are excluded.
The dates are firm. Studielink applications open on 1 October 2026 with an advised deadline of 1 December 2026. The fellowship application opens on 1 November 2026 and closes on 1 February 2027 at 23:59 CET. Results are expected in mid-March 2027, and offers must be accepted by the end of March. Meeting the GPA minimum only gets an application processed and does not guarantee an award.
Maastricht NL High Potential Scholarship
Maastricht University lists the scholarship on its own scholarship page for students from abroad. We could not read the full 2027-28 terms there, so the details below come from a third-party summary on Scholars4Dev and should be checked against the university before you apply. That summary reports 21 awards of up to €36,000 per academic year, a scholarship application deadline of 1 February 2027, a GPA of 7.5 out of 10 or higher, a maximum age of 35 on 1 September 2027, and no earlier degree-seeking study in the Netherlands. It also gives conflicting admission deadline dates, one of which looks like a typo for 10 December 2026, so confirm the admission cut-off with Maastricht directly.
Order of steps
The sequence matters because both schemes require admission before the scholarship application. Register for your programme in Studielink, receive conditional admission, then submit the scholarship form with transcripts. Each form can only be submitted once, so gather the documents first and read the instructions twice. Our report on the Erasmus Mundus joint master’s deadlines covers a parallel European route with similar timing.
A worked example
Consider a hypothetical applicant. Linh is a Vietnamese engineering graduate with a strong transcript who wants a one-year master’s in Amsterdam. She would register in Studielink before 1 December 2026, wait for conditional admission, prepare her transcript with a clear explanation of the grading scale, and submit before 1 February 2027. If she is selected, tuition is covered but she would still need to budget for housing and living costs, unless she receives the NL Scholarship contribution.
Choosing between them
The two schemes differ in what they pay for, so read the terms before assuming either covers living costs. The VU programme is described by VU as tuition-only. The Maastricht summary reports a larger package, but that comes from a non-official source. Funding of this kind is competitive, so applying to more than one university is reasonable, as long as each application follows its own rules. Students weighing the UK instead can read our guide to the Clarendon Scholarship at Oxford. If you are unsure which visa and study route fits your profile, try the visa eligibility checker.
Dutch scholarship questions
When is the VU Fellowship Programme deadline?
The fellowship application closes on 1 February 2027 at 23:59 CET, according to VU Amsterdam. The advised Studielink deadline is 1 December 2026.
Does the VU programme pay living costs?
No. VU says it covers tuition only. A few recipients also receive a one-off €5,000 NL Scholarship.
Who can apply?
Students with a non-EU/EEA passport and no Dutch nationality who are admitted to a full-time English-taught master’s starting in September 2027, with a bachelor’s GPA equal to a Dutch 8.
What is the Maastricht scholarship deadline?
A third-party summary gives 1 February 2027 for the scholarship. Confirm this and the admission deadline with Maastricht University.
Do I need admission before applying?
Yes, for VU you must be conditionally or unconditionally admitted before submitting the fellowship application.
When are VU results announced?
VU expects results in mid-March 2027, with offers to be accepted by the end of March.
Sources
- VU Amsterdam — Incoming master’s scholarships. https://vu.nl/en/education/more-about/incoming-master-scholarships
- Maastricht University — Scholarships for students from abroad. https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/support/your-studies-begin/coming-maastricht-university-abroad/um-scholarships-students-abroad
- Scholars4Dev — Maastricht NL High Potential summary (third party). https://www.scholars4dev.com/2026/10/06/scholarships-for-high-potential-international-students-at-maastricht-university/
