Corona: students are allowed to use the public transport card three months longer

Now that all education takes place remotely, students no longer have to travel up and down to their university of applied sciences or university. Visits to their parental home are also discouraged. Meanwhile, their student public transport card is collecting dust.

Pause
It raises a lot of extra questions for the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO). Students want to know if they can temporarily pause their public transport card and use the saved up months after the corona crisis. However, this is only possible if the entire study grant is paused. And that is inconvenient, because many students need the money because of the corona crisis.

Students are therefore allowed to use their public transport card longer, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has decided. The extension applies to students who are studying at a university of applied sciences or university and were entitled to the student travel product in March. The extra months will start automatically. Students must still be entitled to their study grant in those extra months. Anyone who graduates in the meantime will have to stop their student travel product.

Possibly longer
The measure initially applies for three months, but this can be extended if the corona crisis lasts longer. This way the ministry is also responding to any delays that students may experience as a result of all the corona measures. After all, if they encounter study delays, they will also have to travel up and down for an additional period of time.

Students who go abroad to study may temporarily stop their public transport card. They will then receive (in dutch) a public transport allowance of 98.72 euros per month. The ministry has not opted for this alternative at the moment.