Government wants to increase the education budget

The new minority coalition, comprised of the parties D66, CDA and VVD, has allocated an additional 1.5 billion euros to the education budget. That's slightly more than the previous government had cut from the budget. If the House of Representatives approves this budget, the funding will be reinstated from 2027 onwards.

The new ministers have informed the House of Representatives that around 110 million euros of this sum would be set aside to increase the basic grant for students who do not live with their parents. 

Approximately 220,000 students receive this benefit at all higher education levels: vocational education (MBO), higher professional education (HBO) and university education (WO). This means an additional sum of 500 euros per student each year, or 42 euros per month.

The current grant for students who do not live with their parents is 325 euros per month. According to Nibud, students are on average 400 euros short of making ends meet each month.

Subject to change
The coalition agreement between D66, CDA and VVD contains several plans, including increasing the basic grant for students who no longer live with their parents, but they hadn't specified any amounts until now.

The figure of 110 million euros was revealed in a list of provisional allocations for the 1.5 billion euros for education. This list has been requested by the opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA.

It is still subject to change, emphasised the Minister of Education, Rianne Letschert, and the State Secretary, Judith Tielen. They are still assessing the effectiveness, feasibility and exact costs of these measures.

For the government, the costs of raising the basic grant will only come later, as students are only paid their basic grant after obtaining their degree, which can take years.

Other amounts
The list also shows that 434 million euros have been allocated to research and science. This money will be distributed through the sector plans (which involve collaborations between universities), funding for practice-oriented research, resources for research infrastructure, and European cooperation.

The cabinet is also allocating more funds for international students, now that higher education institutions are allowed to continue offering English-taught programmes at their discretion. In the long term, this will amount to 156 million euros per year.