Student grants and loans

Public spending on student grants and loans include expenditure under the Student Grants and Loans Act (WSF) and the Study Costs and Allowances Act (WTOS).
There are several types of student grants and loans: the basic study grant, the supplementary study grant, the public transport student travel pass, the study loan and tuition fee loan (only for students in higher education). Students aged 18 years and older in the theoretically-oriented learning track (bol) of secondary vocational education (mbo) and students under the age of 30 in higher education can apply for grants and loans provided they meet certain conditions. 

Amounts have been corrected for inflation. The base year is 2000. The starting year is 1997, because since 1997, data are annually based on the same reliable and detailed sources.

Since 2006, the public transport student travel pass is paid each year in advance to the public transport companies. These advanced payments are included in the year they were made and the total amount involved may vary considerably from one year to the next. The amounts are not corrected for annual variation.

The survey only includes those types of education covered by the WSF or the WTOS. Public spending on student grants and loans is related to the number of students in the various types of education. Whether students receive loans or grants is irrelevant in this respect. Within the relevant types of education, expenditure per participant and total growth of the number of students are important.