What Dutch universities should I target for finance scholarships as an Indian student?
Yes. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Radboud University all run scholarships that Indian students can apply for, and the national NL Scholarship pays EUR 5,000 (approx INR 5.32L) once. Most awards are merit-based and partial, so full funding is rare.
Several Dutch universities run merit scholarships that Indian finance applicants can compete for, but most cover only part of the cost. You should shortlist by programme, because many awards apply to specific master's courses rather than the whole university.
Dutch finance scholarships Indian students can apply for
| University | Scholarship to check | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | VU Fellowship Programme | Merit-based tuition fee waiver for outstanding non-EU applicants, and it can be combined with the NL Scholarship |
| University of Amsterdam | Amsterdam Merit Scholarship and Amsterdam Economics and Business Talent Fund | Merit award for excellent applicants; the Talent Fund looks at merit and financial need |
| Erasmus University Rotterdam (RSM) | RSM MSc scholarships | Limited, mainly merit-based awards for non-EEA MSc students; see the official page for current terms |
| Radboud University | Radboud Scholarship Programme | Partial award for non-EU and non-EEA applicants to English-taught master's programmes, with a limited number of places per faculty |
| Several universities | NL Scholarship | EUR 5,000 (approx INR 5.32L) for the first year only, not full tuition |
How to check a Dutch finance scholarship before you apply
- Open the scholarship page of the exact master's programme and confirm it lists non-EU or non-EEA students and your nationality.
- Note whether the award is a tuition waiver, a fixed cash amount or a mix, because only a waiver cuts the biggest cost.
- Check whether a separate scholarship application is needed in addition to the programme application, since many universities treat them as two forms.
- Look for restrictions by nationality: some Dutch awards, such as the Candriam Scholarship at Maastricht University, are limited to EU, EEA, Swiss and Surinamese nationals, so Indian applicants cannot use them.
- Find out whether awards can be combined, for example the VU fellowship with the NL Scholarship.
My Advice
Scholarship rounds for September entry normally open in autumn and close between January and February, so start your documents now and confirm the exact cut-off on each university page. Treat every award as a bonus, not as the plan, and budget for living costs separately because a tuition waiver does not cover rent or food. Apply to at least three programmes so one missed award does not decide your year.
This information is available on: studyinnl.org, vu.nl, uva.nl, rsm.nl, ru.nl, maastrichtuniversity.nl
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