My DUO woes

Students, especially at the beginning of their studies, are not exactly a financially secure bunch. I realised my own lack of funds around a month after I had moved to the Netherlands, with a quick budgeting revealing that I had around 2 months left. Alongside a bit of funding from Ireland (thank you SUSI), I got myself a cleaning job to make ends meet. The budget was still a bit tight, so I looked around to see where else I could possibly scrape a little something together. 

It is then that I began my long and complicated relationship with DUO. My first surprise was seeing that the Netherlands had undergone a slight… change in student financing, having introduced a loan system in 2015 in lieu of a basic grant. The system before 2015 seemed very nice and somewhat fiscally progressive (I wonder whether there were any adverse effects for those under the new system?). But alright, sucks that the new system might not be as good, but at least there is still a supplementary grant I could try for. There’s even a list of requirements for eligibility if you’re from an EU country, how nice. I’m sure this will be a straightforward process.

The saying goes that if you’re a Dutch student, DUO specialises in financing your studies; and if you’re a foreign student, they specialise in keeping it away from you. With this framing in mind, DUO has done an excellent job. The first refutation of my claim for student financing came when I tried, at length, to explain why I could not provide income statements from both parents and that I only had one legal parent. I even had a court document to boot, but it was rejected by my local gemeente because it was a court decision made outside of the Netherlands. This side quest also entailed checking my personal information with the BRP, only to find (to my horror) that while it was registered that I only had one legal parent, they had picked the wrong one. This still leads to the government using the wrong surname when sending me notifications over email, but whatever. One problem at a time.

A second issue that came in tandem was that I was technically on a 0-hour contract, which means I had no document showing that I worked the necessary hours (56 hours per month back then) to qualify. I did what I could in sending my payslips and all the necessary paperwork, but in the end, my financing request was rejected. I was dejected from applying for it again because I would continue to have the same issue with proving I worked adequate hours over the next 3 years. Technically, DUO said that if you worked 24-32 hours, they would “consider” your application, which gave me hope, as I didn’t quite meet the 56-hour threshold overall. In my case, the consideration amounted to “Mmm… nah”.

When I started my first Master’s degree, I decided to try again. I had better luck this time in that I at least was awarded the travel provision. That is, in November I was given the travel provision until the end of January, after which I was trapped in the infinite “We cannot determine your entitlement to student finance” loop. But before that, my travel provision was abruptly cancelled at the end of December, and I had to pay a travel fine for using it in November and December. I had also tried to include an internship I had started alongside my usual work, but because it didn’t fit DUO’s requirements, I was left without a travel product and was awarded a supplementary grant of 0.

My financial bickering had lasted so long that it gave the basisbeurs time to make a grand return. I finally got a steady rate of finance after I sued DUO, since their 56-hour work requirement was not supported by EU law. Just to be safe and make sure that they don’t get the chance to snatch it away from me again, I married a Dutch woman. I’ve had no problems since. DUO did have one last laugh, however. Since they never provided me with any student finance during the loan period and I took the basisbeurs afterwards, I am not entitled to any pechgeneratie compensation. 

Fighting for what you’re entitled to is hard, especially if it drags on forever with ever-shifting goalposts. It is an important skill to develop, since there are times when you’re the only one who has your back. In systems like these, you are expected to be beaten down by the process and forfeit what you are entitled to. Don’t let them get away with it.

On Students' Viewpoint, UU students share their views with the rest of the university community. Hubert, a Master's student of Climate Physics, is one of the columnists invited for this space. You can also read the perspectives of staff members on Staff's Viewpoint and click here to check out the columns by students and staff in Dutch.