The Maastricht University (UM) NL-High Potential Scholarship programme offers 21 full scholarships of € 34,000 (including tuition fee waiver and monthly stipend) each academic year for highly talented students from outside the European Union (EU) who have been admitted to a master’s programme at UM.
The Scholarship programme consists of both the High Potential Scholarship (funded by the Maastricht University Scholarship Fund), and the NL Scholarship, which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in conjunction with Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. It is aimed at international students from outside the EU/EEA who wish to follow a full degree programme in the Netherlands.
Who is eligible?
All candidates must meet the following requirements:
- You hold a nationality in a country outside the EU/EEA, Switzerland or Surinam and meet the requirements for obtaining an entry visa and residence permit for the Netherlands. Please check this website before you apply to see in which country you have to collect your MVV visa for the Netherlands . If you already have a residence permit for another Schengen country, you can only apply if this residence permit is still valid until at least 2 September 2025. If your residence permit expires before 2 September 2025 you can only apply for the Scholarship from your home country via a MVV visa application. More information can be found on the webpages of the Visa Office.
- You do not have dual nationality from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
- You have applied for admission to a participating full-time master programme at Maastricht University (participating programmes) for the 2025-2026 academic year.
- You meet the specific admission requirements of the UM master programme to which you have applied.
- You have never participated in a degree-seeking higher education programme in the Netherlands. Students who have completed exchange programmes in the Netherlands are welcome to apply.
- You are not older than 35 years of age on 1 September 2025.
- You have obtained excellent results during your prior education programmes, as demonstrated by your latest grade transcript showing a GPA of 7,5 out of 10 or higher.
- You can only submit an application once, please make sure all documents meet the requirements before you start your application. We cannot add or replace documents after you submit the application
Please note, this is a very competitive scholarship, only 2% of the applicants get awarded the scholarship.
Application deadline
The application deadline is up to and including 1 February 2025, 23:59 CET.
Duration of the NL-High Potential scholarship
Amount of the NL-High Potential scholarship programme 2025-2026
| Living expenses | € 15,925* (13 months) or € 30,625* (25 months) | Paid to students by the UM International Services Desk |
| Health & liability insurance | € 700* | Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Visa application costs | At cost | Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Tuition fees | At cost | Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Pre-Academic Training costs | At cost | Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| International Student Ambassador Programme (ISAP) | At cost for first block only | Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
*These amounts are subject to change for academic year 2026-2027
Please note that a mandatory part of the Scholarship is a room that will be allocated to you. Accepting the Scholarship means, you accept the room. The accommodation provided to Scholarship students is not suitable for partners/spouses and/or children. Preferences with regard to the accommodation f.e. religious beliefs will be taken into account. Refusing the room means your Scholarship will be cancelled.
The amount of € 15,925 for living expenses (€ 1,225 per month) covers the following expenses and can be broken down as follows (amounts are subject to change):
- Housing: € 600
- Groceries and personal hygiene: € 160
- Telephone: € 60
- Travel: € 100
- Books and study materials: € 90
- Clothing, hobbies and going out: € 125
- Miscellaneous: € 90
Application procedure
Step 1: Register for one of the participating master programmes at UM (participating programmes)
For further details on how to register for a master programme at UM, please see your prospective programme’s webpage. Once you have submitted your application via Studielink, you will receive a student ID number for UM. You will need a student number in order to complete and submit the Scholarship Application Form (see Step 2 below).
- Please note: only the master programmes in the list above are eligible for a UM NL-High Potential Scholarship.
- Please note: you first have to apply for the master programme at UM to receive your student ID, as soon as you have your student ID you can apply for the scholarship. However, you must meet all admission requirements, except legal residence, of your master programme before the Scholarship deadline. Please be aware that the admission deadline may differ to the Scholarship deadline.
- Please note: if your study programme requires the payment of a handling fee as part of your programme’s admissions procedure, the UM International Services Desk does not cover handling fees. You are responsible for paying any handling fee your programme may require by 1 February 2025. To check whether your programme requires the payment of a handling fee, please check your programme’s webpage under the menu tab ‘Admission requirements’.
- Please note: you need to provide an official document from your home university showing your most recent GPA and a document explaining your grade system. We only accept applications with a GPA of 7.5 out of 10 or higher. This is equivalent to a minimum of 75% out of 100% or 3 out of 4 depending on your grade system.
Step 2: Please fill in the application form, you need to log in with your UM account
Please fill out the application form here. We can only accept applications via the application form.
Upload the following documents in .doc, .docx or PDF format, and submit your application. Please note that you will only be able to submit your application once, so please ensure that all of your documents and referee contact details are up-to-date. If you have applied for multiple UM study programmes, the UM International Services Desk will ensure that your complete scholarship application is considered for all eligible programmes for which you have a conditionally approved or approved admissions status.
- Curriculum vitae
Your CV should be up-to-date, contain relevant information about your education and (job) experience, and should not be longer than two A4 pages. If you have received any awards or prizes, please do not forget to mention these on your CV. - Letter of motivation
Please use the template for the motivation letter. This template will focus on your motivation for the scholarship. - Proof of academic excellence
Please upload:
1. Your university transcript or an official document from your home university showing your most recent GPA of 7.5 or higher Only applicants with a grade point average of 7,5 out of 10 or higher will be considered
2. A document explaining your grade system. Your university transcript has to show at least 75% of the maximum grade, for example a 3 out of 4 that would be equivalent to a 7.5 out of 10 at Maastricht University. - Personal statement of financial needs.
Please explain why you would benefit from being awarded a scholarship and describe your personal circumstances such as financial difficulty, sole parent/caretaking responsibilities, medical condition, disability, refugee status etc. - A reference letter. We have prepared scholarship reference letter guidelines; please forward them to your referee, as they will help your referee to write a good reference letter on your behalf. Please note that referees must be (former) professors, lecturers, or employers, and not family members. Recommendation letters should be dated and written no earlier than February 2024. Letters that do not adhere to the guidelines are not taken into account, which means your application is incomplete. You need to upload the reference letter yourself, this cannot be done by your referee. Please note we may check your reference.
- The contact details of one referee
Please note that we might check the authenticity of your referee by contacting your referee. Therefore, ensure that you take the following steps when choosing a referee and submitting their details:- Relationship to applicant; indicate your referee’s connection to you. Is this your professor, thesis supervisor, employer? Please remember that family members may not function as referees.
- Work telephone number of your referee; be sure to include the applicable country calling code.
- Work or institutional email address of your referee. Letters referencing only a personal email address will be rejected.
| Step 1 | Register for a master programme via Studielink.nl |
| Step 2 | Fill out the application form You need to log in with your UM account |
Selection procedure
- Step 1: The UM International Services Desk checks if all applications are complete after 1 February 2025.
- Step 2: The UM International Services Desk sends all complete applications to each UM Faculty in February 2025.
- Step 3: Each Faculty selects and ranks their top 5% of scholarship applicants and sends these to the UM International Services Desk for a final check in March 2025.
- Step 4: The UM International Services Desk confirms the Faculty selections by the end of March 2025 and will invite the selected candidates for an online interview.
- Step 5: After the interviews have taken place the UM International Services Desk will inform all candidates of their application status in April 2025. Your status will be selected, waitlisted or rejected by the beginning of May 2025 at the latest. Waitlisted application statuses will be changed to selected or rejected by May 2025. Scholarship awardees will receive more information about the UM Pre-Academic Training programme and arrival in Maastricht upon receiving their award letters. The UM Pre-Academic Training is a three-week mandatory component of the UM NL Scholarship programme. The Pre-Academic Training takes place in the first week of August 2025.
- Step 6: You must sign and return the award letter to the UM International Services Desk to accept the scholarship.
Read more about the NL Scholarship
Please note that the UM NL-High Potential Scholarship is a very competitive scholarship: only 2% of the applicants will be awarded the scholarship.
For more information:
https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/studeren/toelating-inschrijving/financing-your-studies/scholarships/maastricht-university-nl-high#eligible
