Student who took out a loan vs student on a basic grant: 77,000 vs 0 euros in debt

Since the basic grant was reintroduced in 2023, data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show that fewer students have student debt. In 2023, 610,000 students had student debt; by 2025, this figure had fallen to 150,000 students.

The average debt of current students in 2025 was 16,700 euros, which is 400 euros less than the previous year. The average student debt for students under the loan scheme stood at 18,800 euros in 2025 and continues to rise. This is due to the interest on that debt.

Although the effects of the reintroduction of the basic grant are still unfolding, these figures clearly highlight the contrast between current students and former students. They also demonstrate the long-term impact on the ‘unlucky generation’ – that is, students under the loan scheme who studied between 2015 and August 2023.

UU alumna and ‘unlucky’ student Madelief* (28) borrowed the maximum amount during her student years and consequently now has a student debt of 77,000 euros. How is she coping with this? And how do students receiving the basic grant view such a debt? Because thanks to that basic grant, many students can make ends meet without borrowing extra or borrowing the maximum amount.

Madelief: “I couldn’t reduce my loan, otherwise I’d have ended up on the street” 

When she started her Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Madelief (28) saw taking out a loan as a form of income to fund her studies. She now works at Utrecht University and is sharing her story anonymously, as she has noticed that people are quick to judge former students with high levels of student debt. When she started her degree, she hadn’t imagined that her student debt would eventually mount up to 77,000 euros.

Madelief received some money from her parents and had a part-time job at the university, “but that wasn’t nearly enough”. She wasn’t eligible for a supplementary grant. “I didn’t know how else to get hold of more money, so I took out a loan to be able to lead a normal student life.” She says she didn’t do anything extravagant to account for the debt. “I really used it as a basic income. I went on holiday close to home every now and then, but that’s about it.”

At one point, Madelief did realise that borrowing the maximum amount was causing her debt to mount up. “But I couldn’t borrow any less, otherwise I’d have ended up on the street.”

Mark: "I’m not worried about repaying my loan”

Mark (24) is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Information Science. He began his studies under the student loan scheme but has been receiving a basic grant for students living away from home since his second year. He also received a supplementary grant for a while. After four years of study, he has a debt of 18,000 euros due to his merit-based grant. This debt will be written off if he graduates within 10 years. In addition, he has borrowed 17,000 euros from DUO and a further 8,000 euros from his parents. He has to repay these debts.

Mark isn’t too worried about his debt. “I’d rather have a bit extra now than have to live very frugally. I don’t borrow money to spend it on extravagant things, like buying a car. But I’m not going to borrow any less either, because I do want to be able to keep doing certain things, like going on holiday.”

Mark lives in student accommodation and also likes to spend money on good kit. “Computers, speakers and cameras – I do value those things.” According to Mark, he’ll have no trouble repaying the loan. “I’m not really worried about it.” This month, he’s starting a full-time job as an IT specialist to save up for a motorbike and to build up a financial buffer for his master’s degree, which starts in September.

George: “I don’t have any student debt and I’d like to keep it that way”

George (24), a medical student, has no student debt. He lives in student accommodation in Utrecht and gets by on his savings. When he started his studies, student loans weren’t available yet. So, for the first two years of his degree, he didn’t receive a basic grant. He has now been receiving it for three years. At the moment, he is doing 50 hours a week of clinical placements, for which he receives a stipend of around 4 euros a day. He also occasionally works a paid weekend shift at the hospital. 

Working alongside school and university, and living frugally – that’s what defines George. After he passed his VWO exams, the COVID-19 pandemic began and a shortage of staff arose in the healthcare sector. “I worked in the Intensive Care Unit for a year and a half, and that’s how I earned a lot of money. I also received bonuses and benefited financially from that period.” 

the time he was competing at a high level as a student athlete, he was sometimes unable to work. In those cases, he received a few hundred euros from his parents; he wasn’t entitled to a supplementary grant. “I’ve never been someone who spends a lot of money. Now, because of my clinical rotations, I also have less time to spend money. Actually, in my spare time, I only spend money on sport and on a museum year pass.” 

Even without the basic grant, George thinks he’d still be able to make ends meet. He invests his basic grant of just over 300 euros almost every month, sometimes even a larger amount. “The basic grant is a real gift. I do keep an eye on it to make sure I’m using it wisely. That way, I hope to build up a nice sum for the future.”

Madelief: "The total amount of debt I have at the age of 62 is higher than it was when I graduated"

Madelief started repaying her student loan straight after graduating. She did not take advantage of the option to defer repayments for two years. Once a month, 75 euros is automatically debited from her account. “That means I think about my 77,000-euro debt at least once a month, and how many months I still have to go.”

After a two-year grace period and 35 years of repayments, the remaining debt will be written off. If, according to DUO’s calculations, Madelief continues to pay just 75 euros a month, she will have to keep repaying until she is 62. “The loan was an investment in my future that I will have to pay for almost my entire working life.”

Furthermore, because the interest rate is currently 2.33 per cent, the debt will increase every year. “The total amount of debt I’ll have at 62 is higher than it was when I graduated. When I took out the loan at 18, it wasn’t clear that I’d still be paying it off into my 60s. That takes a heavy toll on my mental health.”

She finds it difficult to talk to her friends about buying a house. “People around me are taking that step. Apart from the fact that houses are just so expensive at the moment, I know it’s going to be really tough with my student debt.” At times like that, she starts to wonder whether she made the wrong choices during her studies.

What would she have done at 18 if she’d known then what she knows now? “I might have tried to see if I could avoid taking an extra year to complete my degree.” That would have meant taking fewer modules and having less time for the student society. “Then the freedom I felt during my student days would have been more limited. So, on the one hand, I’d take it more seriously, but on the other hand, I reckon I’d do exactly the same.”

George: "It’s true that I do sometimes judge people with such high student debt"

When Madelief went to university, taking out a student loan wasn’t taboo and the interest rate was 0 per cent. “People saw it as the cheapest loan ever. You didn’t have to think too much about it. It was an investment in your future. The idea of borrowing was quite positive back then.”

She feels that has changed now. In her circle, she’s noticed that borrowing is viewed much more negatively, as are people with high levels of debt. She thinks this is unfair. “Not everyone has (had) the luxury of being able to work a lot or receive financial support from their parents.”

“I do sometimes judge people with such high student debt,” says George. “I find myself thinking: couldn’t you have lived more frugally? Or worked more?” He does acknowledge, however, that financial circumstances can vary from person to person. “Of course, it also depends on how much energy you have to work alongside your studies, how busy you are with your studies and how long you’re studying for.”

Mark does agree with George. “There are bound to be people who have a lot of debt and haven’t managed their finances very well, but there are also people who had no other choice.”

Madelief emphasises once again that students don’t necessarily borrow the maximum amount because they’re lazy or irresponsible with money. “More often than not, it’s someone who, despite their circumstances, really wanted to study and therefore had to borrow the maximum amount. There are plenty of people who borrowed very little and still have a debt of 50,000 euros. My generation didn’t have a basic grant, so we should probably talk about this in a more neutral way.”

George: “We’re very well off in the Netherlands”

What do George and Mark actually think about that generation that didn’t receive a basic grant? “The ‘unlucky generation’ isn’t actually unlucky at all,” says George. “You can pay back your debt at an interest rate of around 2.5 per cent. It’s a shame that it was 0 per cent at first, but actually it’s the cheapest loan you can get.” And compared to a number of other countries, Dutch students are doing very well. “We don’t have to pay much in tuition fees, we get healthcare allowance and sometimes rent allowance as well.”

When the student loan scheme was launched in September 2015, the interest rate was 0.12 per cent. From 2017 to 2022, the interest rate was 0 per cent. After that, the interest rate rose again. It is now 2.33 per cent in Madelief’s case.

“Unlucky students feel they’ve had a run of bad luck because they compare themselves to students who received or are receiving a basic grant.” That’s unfair too, George thinks, but: “Would we have called ourselves ‘unlucky students’ if the system had always been like this? I don’t think so. Of course, you should always strive for better in a country, but I also think that at some point we need to realise: wow, we’re actually quite well off.”

Although Mark agrees with George that “we’re very well off in the Netherlands”, he does think the term ‘unlucky students’ is justified. “I know people who want to buy a house now but who can borrow less because of their huge student debt. At the start, it wasn’t clear that student debt would have an impact on that.” He also finds it regrettable that it seemed as though the interest rate would always be 0 per cent, and he thinks the allowance for ‘unlucky students’ is too low.

Madelief: "It would be great if the interest rate on my loan went down"

Students affected by the changes have received compensation following the reintroduction of the basic grant. The compensation may vary from student to student but is capped at around 2,000 euros. “But,” says Madelief, “the compensation I receive is quickly eaten up by the interest on my loan.” Above all, however, she misses the government’s acknowledgement that they made a mistake by introducing the student loan system. “I also find the decision to set a 35-year repayment term reprehensible. When I took out the loan, it was 15 years. And I’m missing an explanation. How am I supposed to feel about such a debt? What’s the financially sensible thing to do?”

When she started university, she didn’t have enough knowledge to make sound financial choices, she says. “If you don’t get any information about financial choices from your parents, you really have no idea what to expect once you’ve finished your studies and have to start repaying the loan.” She herself decided to start repaying straight away during the two-year grace period, because the interest starts accruing then as well. “My friends, for example, didn’t make that choice. Out of ignorance.”

“Of course, the best thing would be for the ‘unlucky generation’ to get all the money they’ve lost back,” says Mark. But he also knows that money has to come from somewhere. “Will it be taken away from healthcare? The police? I think that’s more important than cheap education.”

Madelief agrees. “There’s really no need to put a large sum of money on the table for us ‘unlucky’ students straight away, but it would be nice if the interest rates were lower in the future. And if the government were to give some serious thought to how they can better support students who’ve been unlucky.”

Clear information about borrowing also plays an important role, according to Madelief. “Students need to be better informed about what it means to borrow money and what the consequences are.” George adds: “Yes, perhaps a sort of e-learning course that you’d have to complete before borrowing money, so that students know what they’re getting themselves into.”

*Madelief’s real name is known to the editors.