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Netherlands Closing soon Closes 19 October 2026

HAN NL Scholarship

HAN University of Applied Sciences, based in Arnhem and Nijmegen, runs one of the more generous and more clearly documented scholarship schemes among Dutch universities of applied sciences — and unusually for the Netherlands, it stretches across the whole degree rather than the first year only. The HAN NL Scholarship pays EUR 2,500 per semester in your first year and then EUR 2,500 a year for the following three years of a bachelor's, up to EUR 12,500 in total, roughly LKR 4.3 million. On a master's it is EUR 2,500 per semester, up to EUR 5,000 or about LKR 1.7 million. A second award, the Honors Scholarship, is worth up to EUR 7,500 on a bachelor's and EUR 2,500 on a master's, and you do not apply for it at all — HAN's academic board selects recipients, and it is aimed at strong students who did not receive the NL Scholarship. The eligibility framing is precise and worth reading literally: you must be a national of a country outside the EU and EEA (Suriname excluded), you must be liable for the higher institutional tuition fee rather than the statutory Dutch rate, you must not already hold a degree from a Dutch institution or have previously enrolled at one, and you must be accepted onto a full-time English-taught HAN programme. Sri Lankan citizens meet the nationality test cleanly. HAN also sets a firm English bar of IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 90 or a Cambridge CAE or CPE — there is no institutional waiver route here, so budget time and money for the test in Colombo. The continuation condition is real: 45 credits a year, every year, or the payments stop.

2026/27 cycle: the 1 May 2026 deadline for the September 2026 intake has passed. The live deadline is 19 October 2026, 12:00 CEST, for the February 2027 intake

HAN University of Applied Sciences

University-funded

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Bachelor's Maximum

EUR 12,500 over 4 years (LKR ~4.3M)

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Master's Maximum

EUR 5,000 (LKR ~1.7M)

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Continuation

45 credits earned every year

info How this award actually works

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Who awards it

HAN University of Applied Sciences — not Lanka Scholar. We are not the awarding body and cannot grant, reserve or guarantee this award.

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How you are considered

Through your admission application. Awards like this are usually assessed automatically from the application you already submit — there is typically no separate scholarship form to fill in.

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What it covers

Up to EUR 12,500 Bachelor's (LKR ~4.3M) / EUR 5,000 Master's (LKR ~1.7M). This is a reduction in tuition, not a full ride. You still fund the remainder, plus living costs and the balance your visa requires you to show.

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Where we come in

We make the admission application strong enough to be competitive — course choice, documents, references and deadlines. The funder makes the decision.

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Non-EU/EEA Nationality Required

You must hold the nationality of a country outside the EU and EEA, with Suriname explicitly excluded. Sri Lankan citizens qualify. EU and EEA students are not eligible for this award.

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You Must Be Paying Institutional Tuition

The scholarship is only for students liable for HAN's higher institutional fee, not the statutory Dutch rate that EU students pay. That is the group the money is designed to offset — ask admissions for your programme's exact institutional fee in euros before converting to rupees.

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No Prior Dutch Study

You must not hold a degree from a Dutch education institution, and you must not have previously been enrolled in a degree at a Dutch university or university of applied sciences. This is strictly a first-entry award.

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IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 90 or Cambridge CAE/CPE

HAN sets a firm English requirement for scholarship eligibility. There is no medium-of-instruction waiver route stated here, so a Sri Lankan applicant should book the test early — Colombo test slots fill up around peak intake seasons.

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45 Credits a Year to Keep It

Continuation payments depend on earning the required 45 ECTS credits each year. Fail to keep pace and the remaining instalments stop, leaving you paying full institutional fees for the rest of the degree. Plan your finances against that possibility.

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The Honors Scholarship Needs No Application

HAN's separate Honors Scholarship — up to EUR 7,500 on a bachelor's, EUR 2,500 on a master's — is awarded by the academic board without an application. It is aimed at strong students who did not get the NL Scholarship, so a rejection on the main award is not the end of the matter.

account_tree Application Process

Apply for admission to an English-taught HAN degree

Apply through Studielink and HAN's own application steps for a full-time English-taught bachelor's or master's. Scholarship eligibility only exists once you are accepted, so get the admission application in with time to spare.

Meet the deadline for your intake

Applications close at 12:00 CEST on 1 May for a September start and 19 October for a February start. These are hard cut-offs — HAN publishes them as fixed times, not guidance.

Wait for the invitation to apply

If you meet the conditions before the deadline, HAN automatically invites you to submit a scholarship application. If you believe you qualify and no invitation arrives, chase the international office rather than assuming you were rejected.

Receive payments on HAN's schedule

September starters are paid in November and April; February starters in April and November. The money arrives after you have started, so you must fund the first tuition instalment and your travel yourself.

Arrange your Dutch residence permit

HAN acts as your recognised sponsor and applies for your provisional residence permit and residence permit, so there is no conventional embassy queue. You must still evidence the required living funds for the year — count the scholarship in, but remember the first payment lands after arrival.

Why HAN?

HAN teaches around 35,000 students across Arnhem and Nijmegen, two mid-sized cities in the east of the Netherlands where rent is markedly cheaper than Amsterdam or Utrecht — a real factor when you are converting living costs into rupees. Its English-taught portfolio is strong in engineering, automotive, life sciences, business and international social work, and the applied-sciences model means placements and industry projects are built into the degree rather than bolted on. Dutch graduates from outside the EU can apply for the orientation year permit to stay and look for work after finishing.

EUR 12,500

Maximum bachelor's award

45 ECTS

Credits needed each year to continue

2

Campus cities (Arnhem, Nijmegen)

Looking for a scholarship because of the cost?

Then start here instead. Scholarships are competitive, usually partial, and decided by someone else — they are the least reliable way to make studying abroad affordable. Your destination and course choice move the number far more, and both are entirely within your control.

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