Expatica Community | The Expat Social Network - Uni fees

Forums » Netherlands » Student Forum The Netherlands

Back To Topics

Uni fees - questions

Blinkyb
June 8, 2010 10:08:13 PM CEST

I got into Masters.

I have a 5 year residence permit here in the Netherlands. According to one uni I spoke to I have to pay the higher international rate for my fees due to the following:

1. I am over 30 (of I was younger I would be entitled to EU rate);
2. My partner is not Dutch (he is a knowledge migrant); (if he was Dutch I would be entitled to EU rate);
3. I am not a citizen (If I was I would get EU rate.

Seems a bit weird given that I will probably get taxed like everyone else.

Does anyone know any argument I can use or way to get the EU rate?

Also, what happens if I start the course and decide in the first month or so I don't like it? Do I lose any fees that I pay?

Thanks in advance and please do not quote me for privacy reasons.
tudor_geo
- 736 posts
June 12, 2010 5:05:15 PM CEST

lawra (Jun 8 2010, 07:08 PM) said: > original post
I got into Masters.

I have a 5 year residence permit here in the Netherlands. According to one uni I spoke to I have to pay the higher international rate for my fees due to the following:

1. I am over 30 (of I was younger I would be entitled to EU rate);
2. My partner is not Dutch (he is a knowledge migrant); (if he was Dutch I would be entitled to EU rate);
3. I am not a citizen (If I was I would get EU rate.

Seems a bit weird given that I will probably get taxed like everyone else.

Does anyone know any argument I can use or way to get the EU rate?

Also, what happens if I start the course and decide in the first month or so I don't like it? Do I lose any fees that I pay?

Thanks in advance and please do not quote me for privacy reasons.

Basically, if you have the right to study financing, you pay the EU rate, but then you have to be younger than 30 years when you request study financing. If you don't have such right, see the following wizard: http://cf.bc.uva.nl/formulieren/collegegeld/collegegeld.cfm (rates may vary per university, but the basic idea of EU/non-EU rates is the same).

A study year has 12 months, so by un-enlisting for the study you get the money back for the whole months (out of 12) which still remain. E.g. if there are still 9 whole months to go, you get 9/12=75% of your study fees returned (but not the books costs or readers costs). This has to be done by sending an un-enlisting form and your student IDs to the bureau of central students administration.
twilight
- 40 posts
October 29, 2010 3:01:29 PM CEST

hi
i m in same boat as you. Me n partner are Non EU citizen, living since 3 years, older than 30 yrs n looking for pursuing Ms here.

What fees did you eventually end up paying?
tudor_geo
- 736 posts
November 3, 2010 11:19:56 PM CET

twilight (Oct 29 2010, 12:01 PM) said: > original post
hi
i m in same boat as you. Me n partner are Non EU citizen, living since 3 years, older than 30 yrs n looking for pursuing Ms here.

What fees did you eventually end up paying?

Well, I paid something between 1400 and 1800 euro for each year of study (1 year at the HvA, 3.75 years at the UvA and 1 year at the VU). Taxes are slightly adjusted every year. It makes a lot of difference if you are below or above 30 years old. Having a certain type of residence permit means that you fulfill the nationality requirement, which entitles you to study financing (not mandatory, but it is an option) and fees equal to those paid by EU citizens.

The study guide provides the maximal cost of the books for each ECT you have to get.

Medicine studies and sometimes law studies could cost a lot more than such fee.

See the nationality requirement at http://www.ib-groep.nl/studiepunt/national...ema.asp?taal=en
robertmweaver
- 43 posts
November 5, 2010 2:28:06 PM CET

I have personal and legal experience in this area. The fees are outrageous and, in my professional view, illegal. No one government owns knowledge. And any public body, say the police, telling people in their territory that their services are not available to all on the territory regardless of nationality is just extremely problematic. Further, any service provider saying that their service costs €1 for these nationals and €7 for other nationals is a violation of the laws governing the services market.

Challenging under EU law (i.e. Directive 2000/43, Article 18 TFEU, EU Charter on Fundamental Rights) as suggested by the OP is one route, but it is actually the weakest argument in my view because Directive 2000/43's provisions on nationality are watered down, it is currently debatable whether Article 18 TFEU protects Third Country Nationals, and the European Court of Justice is only now implementing the Charter and it will take national judges a while to catch one. However, a chief official advisor the to European Court of Justice had recommended that any nationality discrimination applied to family members of EU Citizens in the exercise of fundamental rights is illegal (Zambrano case, several weeks ago). The right to education is protected in Article 14 of the EU Charter as well as Article 2 of the First Protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights and international human rights law, which forms part of EU law through the general principles of EU law.

The strongest arguments, in my view, are based on Dutch anti-discrimination law which goes beyond Directive 2000/43 and explicitly covers nationality and educational services. The way it is structured is also particularly unfavorable to the way that tuition fees are handled. Further, it is not hard to find bilateral treaty agreements (Dutch-American, Anakara Turkish-EU, Swiss-EU, etc) that ban this kind of disgusting protectionist behavior in the clearest of terms.

There is additional support for this interpretation from the Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights which bans discrimination on the basis of nationality in the provision of educational services and only allows for an exception for developing (i.e. poor) countries, of which The Netherlands certainly is not. Also, the ICCPR does so as well. So does the European Convention on Human Rights in Article 14 which bans discrimination on the basis of nationality for any right protected by the convention (Education covered by protocol 1, Article 2, which NL has signed). Further, the NL is one of the few signatories to Protocol 12 of the ECHR which bans discrimination in relation to any right laid down by law. The WTO framework on educational services is exactly the same and such policies have not held up to scrutiny there. It is especially problematic that the Dutch law gives the lower rate to Surinamese nationals. It is harder to see a relevant distinction between Surinamese and Australian that EU/EEA and Australian.

These fees have been successfully challenged at least three times before the Equality Commission (by an Armenian, a Surinamese, and an America). I also know through social contacts that they have been successfully challenged by a lawyer representing a Turkish national. The administrative educational courts seem to be a bit unreliable though, with split decisions going on. The challenges from EU, EEA, Swiss and Surinamese nationals in various courts have brought about structural changes protecting those nationals in University policies (the NL tried to screw other those groups and eventually lost), but they are still dragging their feet on the rest. With this anti-immigrant political climate, it takes a lot of pushing in my view.

You may have to act within a number of weeks of getting either the bill or a decision (besluit) upholding the bill in order to preserve your full range of options (civil court, administrative court, equality commission, informal settlement). One problem in this area is that it is governed by the specialized administrative educational courts, which, like the universities themselves have a culture of protecting each other and doing things their own way despite clear developments in the law.

I am currently challenging the tuition scheme myself and am pretty sure I have done more research on this than anybody out there. My firm can represent people wanting to challenge the tuition. In fact, I really get a kick out of these sorts of cases, as immensely frustrating as they are.

--Robert, BA, LLM, Juris Doctor
Robert@OnPointLegal.eu
OnPointLegal.eu
osita
- 2061 posts
November 5, 2010 7:54:23 PM CET

robertmweaver (Nov 5 2010, 01:28 PM) said: > original post
I have personal and legal experience in this area. The fees are outrageous and, in my professional view, illegal. No one government owns knowledge.

Just a quick question Mr Weaver, out of curiousity, how much would an EU citizen pay at an American University per year?
robertmweaver
- 43 posts
November 6, 2010 1:40:18 PM CET

osita (Nov 5 2010, 06:54 PM) said: > original post
Just a quick question Mr Weaver, out of curiousity, how much would an EU citizen pay at an American University per year?

They would pay a legal rate that is not calculated purely based purely on nationality. My alma mater gives a 35-50% tuition break to international students because they value the diversity that comes from it.

Further, the tuition system in the US enslaves their population. If you poke around a bit in the news in the US bit you will see that the recent graduates have crippling debts from the high tuition rates. One doctor graduated with $555,000 in debt. It should not be held up as a standard of comparison or a model to follow.

Further, rarely will any person pay the full tuition price at US universities. However, a lot of people setting the fees in Europe do not realize this. About 98% of people get assistance, and universities give scholarships for everything (academics, tennis, legacy, fine arts, coming from a certain county in the State, etc), so the advertised tuition price is a red herring. In contrast, The NL really doesn't have much of a scholarship system. The system works through large subsidies to a comparatively small number of universities. For either the government or the university to conceptualize that money as only for a sub-set of the student body is improper.
robertmweaver
- 43 posts
November 6, 2010 2:23:59 PM CET

Lawra,

As for your specific situation, the University is not calculating your fees correctly.

If you are a long-term resident (you have a Verblijfsvergunning voor onbepaalde tijd), you are entitled to be treated exactly the same as a Dutch national for purposes of education, including student grants. Basically, permanent residents get the social and economics rights as a Dutch national, but not the political rights (voting nationally).

If they want you to pay the over-30 rate, then it should be the over-30 rate for Dutch nationals, not the international over-30 rate. Show them Article 11 (1) (B) of EU Directive 2003/109 (link). It states:
"Equal treatment
1. Long-term residents shall enjoy equal treatment with nationals as regards:
[...]
(B) education and vocational training, including study grants in accordance with national law."

If they still do not understand, refer to Article 7.43 (1) (a) of the WHW and Articles 2.2(1)(B) of the Wet van de Wet studiefinanciering 2000, which guarantees the lower tuition fee to those who, by virtue of a treaty or ruling of an international organisation have the right to be treated as the same as a Dutch person for purposes of education. Since you are protected under Article 2.2(1)(B) of the Wet studiefinanciering 2000, you are not within the discretionary category in Article 7.43 (1) (a) of the WHW and the University does not have the discretion to charge you the much higher institutional rate.

Wageningen University explains the details much better the UvA does. UvA simplifies it a bit too much. See www.wageningenuniversity.nl/NL/Informatie+voor/huidige_bsc_studenten/financi%C3%ABn+en+verzekeringen/Groepen+personen+artikel+2.2+WSF2000/default.htm

As for those here without permanent residence status, what I stated earlier about the illegality of making direct distinctions on the basis of nationality in the provision of educational services has been repeatedly confirmed by the Equality Commission (CGB) in judgments 2007-2, 2006-110, and 2004-134.

--Robert M. Weaver, BA, LLM, JD
Robert@OnPointLegal.eu
Blinkyb
November 13, 2010 11:11:26 PM CET

Hi Robert, thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I am not a permanent resident yet. Do I still have a chance to fight the fees? How would I do that?
sabetsu
- 583 posts
November 14, 2010 11:56:06 AM CET

You have to pay the fees for a non-EU national if you don't have verblijfsvergunning, and I think that would be only based on having a partner who has that right to studentfinanciering as well.

But they can't discriminate based on your nationality, only the fact that you are non-EU and non-Dutch decides this.

Because of the article which Mr Weaver posted above, according to that law you have the same rights as a Dutch person when it comes to education financing because you are a long-term resident (5 years should be long-term, yes?).

You DO have verblijfsvergunning, but you are also over 30, and studentfinanciering isn't available to those persons over 30 so far as I know (it's even been pushed up from a few years ago when it was 28).

EDIT: Found this at buitenlandsepartner.nl forums:

The age requirement is no longer valid. People above 30 are entitled to the legal tuition fee (1630 euros) as well. As long as they haven´t finished any other Master´s or Bachelor´s degree in the Netherlands. If your girlfriend has `residence with partner` she only needs to pay the low tuition fee.

The problem is that a lot of universities don´t know this rule, so you have to show them the legal regulations before they will accept it

See the other thread (in Dutch)

http://www.buitenlandsepartner.nl/forum/vi...&highlight=

-------------------------

Je partner heeft recht op het wettelijk collegegeld. Ik kan het weten want ik heb het net voor mijn partner onder dezelfde omstandigheden (Colombiaanse, 36 jaar, tijdelijke verblijfsvergunning verblijf bij partner en ongehuwd) uitgezocht! De leeftijdsgrens geldt niet meer dus goed nieuws voor jullie.

Jouw partner valt onder de nationaliteitsvereiste en dan heb je recht op wettelijk collegegeld: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-...ld-betalen.html

een lijst met wie onder die vereiste valt vind je bijvoorbeeld hier: http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/NL/Info...000/default.htm

This means:

Your partner has legal rights to the legal tuition (meaning the EU tuition fees). I can know this because I have just gotten a temporary residence permit for my partner under the same conditions (Colombian, 36 years old, temporary permit to stay unmarried with partner). The age is not such good news for you.

If your partner falls under the nationality requirement, then you have rights to legal college tuition: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-...ld-betalen.html

An example of those in list form who fall under this requirement can be found here: http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/NL/Informatie for / huidige_bsc_studenten / finance and insurance / Groups Rule 2.2 persons WSF2000/default.htm

---------------------

Then, there is another reply:

De leeftijdsvereiste is dit jaar vervangen door een andere eis namelijk: als je geen master of bachelor in NL hebt gehaald eerder, heb je recht op wettelijk collegegeld (mits je onder de nationalitietsvereiste valt).

This means:

The age requirement was replaced this year by another requirement, which is: if you have not received a master or bachelor degree in the Netherlands at an earlier time, you have rights for legal college tuition (if you fall under the nationality requirement).
Blinkyb
November 14, 2010 6:56:32 PM CET

sabetsu (Nov 14 2010, 10:56 AM) said: > original post
You have to pay the fees for a non-EU national if you don't have verblijfsvergunning, and I think that would be only based on having a partner who has that right to studentfinanciering as well.

But they can't discriminate based on your nationality, only the fact that you are non-EU and non-Dutch decides this.

Because of the article which Mr Weaver posted above, according to that law you have the same rights as a Dutch person when it comes to education financing because you are a long-term resident (5 years should be long-term, yes?).

You DO have verblijfsvergunning, but you are also over 30, and studentfinanciering isn't available to those persons over 30 so far as I know (it's even been pushed up from a few years ago when it was 28).

EDIT: Found this at buitenlandsepartner.nl forums:

The age requirement is no longer valid. People above 30 are entitled to the legal tuition fee (1630 euros) as well. As long as they haven´t finished any other Master´s or Bachelor´s degree in the Netherlands. If your girlfriend has `residence with partner` she only needs to pay the low tuition fee.

The problem is that a lot of universities don´t know this rule, so you have to show them the legal regulations before they will accept it

See the other thread (in Dutch)

http://www.buitenlandsepartner.nl/forum/vi...&highlight=

-------------------------

Je partner heeft recht op het wettelijk collegegeld. Ik kan het weten want ik heb het net voor mijn partner onder dezelfde omstandigheden (Colombiaanse, 36 jaar, tijdelijke verblijfsvergunning verblijf bij partner en ongehuwd) uitgezocht! De leeftijdsgrens geldt niet meer dus goed nieuws voor jullie.

Jouw partner valt onder de nationaliteitsvereiste en dan heb je recht op wettelijk collegegeld: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-...ld-betalen.html

een lijst met wie onder die vereiste valt vind je bijvoorbeeld hier: http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/NL/Info...000/default.htm

This means:

Your partner has legal rights to the legal tuition (meaning the EU tuition fees). I can know this because I have just gotten a temporary residence permit for my partner under the same conditions (Colombian, 36 years old, temporary permit to stay unmarried with partner). The age is not such good news for you.

If your partner falls under the nationality requirement, then you have rights to legal college tuition: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-...ld-betalen.html

An example of those in list form who fall under this requirement can be found here: http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/NL/Informatie for / huidige_bsc_studenten / finance and insurance / Groups Rule 2.2 persons WSF2000/default.htm

---------------------

Then, there is another reply:

De leeftijdsvereiste is dit jaar vervangen door een andere eis namelijk: als je geen master of bachelor in NL hebt gehaald eerder, heb je recht op wettelijk collegegeld (mits je onder de nationalitietsvereiste valt).

This means:

The age requirement was replaced this year by another requirement, which is: if you have not received a master or bachelor degree in the Netherlands at an earlier time, you have rights for legal college tuition (if you fall under the nationality requirement).

Thanks Sabetsu. Do you know where I can find the law stipulating the under 30 requirement has been lifted? Thanks.
sabetsu
- 583 posts
November 14, 2010 11:46:15 PM CET

One of the lower posts:

De info in de link van de rijksoverheid geldt voor dit academisch jaar en is overduidelijk: er wordt nergens over een leeftijd gerept. Eerdere jaren was er wel die grens van 30 jaar wat voor verwarring zorgt. Bij de Radboud Universiteit in Nijmegen deden ze eerst ook moeilijk maar na het overleggen van deze documenten van de rijksoverheid hebben ze het wettelijk collegegeld geaccepteerd. (hoewel ze voornamelijk moeilijk deden over het niet-getrouwd zijn of geregistreerd partnerschap hebben).

This means:

The information in the link to the central government covers this academic year and is very clear: there is nothing mentioning age. Earlier years there were the limits of 30 years and this causes confusion. At the Radboud University in Nijmegen they were at first difficult but after the release of these documents from the central government, they have accepted the lawful tuition fees. (However they can be difficult about non-marriage or registered partnerships.)

I guess then, you will be able to find these documents in one of the links to the central government webpage above. I recommend you check that page out at buitenlandsepartner.nl and also sign up so that you can have full access (it's all free).
tudor_geo
- 736 posts
November 16, 2010 11:33:26 PM CET

Here is the way the nationality requirement is assessed: http://www.ib-groep.nl/studiepunt/national...ema.asp?taal=en

I does not necessarily mean holding a certain nationality; it may also mean holding the proper type of residence permit (regardless of nationality).
Blinkyb
November 17, 2010 8:42:22 PM CET

Thanks guys. I have contacted one of the universities with this information. I was accepted into two courses. One of them does not have an EU rate though unfortunately.

You have been most helpful. Thank you all so much.
twilight
- 40 posts
June 30, 2011 6:57:04 PM CEST

hi all,

my application for the studiefinanciering has been declined from DUO coz i am not younger than 30 years. With this letter my argument for the lower univ fees weakens. Can i contest DUO's decision and on what basis.
blinkyjunior
- 57 posts
July 7, 2011 2:22:38 PM CEST

are you a resident here? If you have 5 year residency you should get lower rate for university fees.
twilight
- 40 posts
July 13, 2011 4:17:17 PM CEST

blinkyjunior said:
are you a resident here? If you have 5 year residency you should get lower rate for university fees.

i am a resident here and my RP is calid for another 4 yrs. the univ is saying i must have onbepaaltijd RP to get the lower fee. I know they are wrong, hence, i need the laws where it is stated that i can get the lweor fee.
blackbeuty
- 1 posts
July 18, 2011 9:22:58 PM CEST

lawra said:
Thanks guys. I have contacted one of the universities with this information. I was accepted into two courses. One of them does not have an EU rate though unfortunately.

You have been most helpful. Thank you all so much.

Hi Lawra,

We have exactly same situation as yours. Would you please tell me what information exactly did you provide to get an EU rate. I am really confused whether I am entitled for lower tution fees.
osita
- 2061 posts
July 19, 2011 6:32:14 PM CEST

twilight said:
hi all, my application for the studiefinanciering has been declined from DUO coz i am not younger than 30 years. With this letter my argument for the lower univ fees weakens. Can i contest DUO's decision and on what basis.

As far as I know, there is no student financing for any student here once they turn 30? - and that applies to Dutch nationals too.
blinkyjunior
- 57 posts
July 26, 2011 12:13:44 PM CEST

You should be entitled if you have certain type of residency (can't remember if its type 1 or two). I am pming you blackbeuty.
blinkyjunior
- 57 posts
July 26, 2011 12:18:17 PM CEST

This thread basically explains it:

www.buitenlandse-partner.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44903&start=30

You need to direct the university authorities to the section of WHW listed above (and in the above forum link).
robertmweaver
- 43 posts
November 23, 2011 12:14:19 PM CET

Yeah, I think this thread went a bit awry. I, and I believe others, thought that the OP's statement, "I have a 5 year residence permit here in the Netherlands", meant that the OP had been here for five years and had a permanent residence permit based on being here for five years (the type of permit that is for an unlimited time but the card just needs to be renewed every five (?) years or so). Rather, the OP has a permit that is valid for a total of five years after being issued and the OP is one year into that.

I want to be clear about my post. It was based on the idea of the OP having a permanent residence permit already. I stated "If you are a long-term resident (you have a Verblijfsvergunning voor onbepaalde tijd), you are entitled to be treated exactly the same as a Dutch national for purposes of education, including student grants." Thus, for people who have less than a permanent residence permit, try the flow chart/calculator below for a more detailed answer.

If you do the calculator and have to pay the higher rate, then considering negotiating with the university, by yourself or with a legal advisor, might be worth it. I want to note that many of the fifteen or so groups that qualify to be treated as equivalent as Dutch nationals under the current regulations achieved that status through litigation. I also want to note that, although not currently accepted as giving the same protections, there are other laws protecting groups who do not get the statutory rate, and those laws are worded nearly exactly the same way as the laws used by those groups who currently get the statutory rate. Also, often the exact same laws used by those who receive the statutory rate protect those who do not, but the government has chosen to interpret court ruling very narrowly.

This is a pretty good flow chart/calculator that actually accounts for the wide range of situations: http://international.hu.nl/Practical%20Matters/Finances%20and%20Costs/Tuition%20fee%20calculator.asp.
Patrick
- 8 posts
December 28, 2011 9:35:59 AM CET

osita said:

twilight said:
hi all, my application for the studiefinanciering has been declined from DUO coz i am not younger than 30 years. With this letter my argument for the lower univ fees weakens. Can i contest DUO's decision and on what basis.

As far as I know, there is no student financing for any student here once they turn 30? - and that applies to Dutch nationals too.

Hi Osita,

How about if you're non-EU/EER citizen, under 30 years of age?
Patrick
- 8 posts
December 28, 2011 9:39:37 AM CET

Hi all,

I have a similar situation with some of the guys here. Hope you don't mind me asking additional questions.

I'm an Australian citizen, 28 years old, and I'm scheduled to commence my master's degree August next year. I don't have parents or a partner that holds an EU citizenship.

I believe I'll be issued with residence permit type I - fixed term for the duration of my studies. I had a look on the nationality chart, but I'm not sure if I will be eligible for any grants.

Could anyone please advise me whether I'm eligible?
twilight
- 40 posts
February 9, 2012 11:45:12 PM CET

Sorry to disappoint but you are not eligible for the statutory fees or the grants. You are eligible (mind you , just eligible, there are other terms n conditions too) for them only if f you hold EU citizenship or permanent rresidence permit, or if your spouse (not partners) holds either of them.