Withdrawing during your 1st year

During your 1st year of MBO (secondary vocational education) level 3 or 4, HBO (higher vocational education), or university, you are free to try out if the programme suits you. If you stop your student finance no later than 1 February, you will not have to repay your grant and travel product. This is called the first year scheme. Of course, you will still have to repay any student loan that you have received.

Have you completed your MBO programme and are you continuing your studies in HBO? Then you have until the end of the 1st academic year, that is 1 September, to stop your student finance.

Conditions first year scheme

The conditions depend on the educational route you followed.

You came from secondary education

If you came from secondary education, the conditions are as follows:

• You came from VMBO, HAVO, or VWO.
• You are receiving student finance for MBO level 3 or 4, HBO, or university for the first time.
• You have stopped your student finance no later than 1 February.
• You cannot receive student finance again in the same academic year for a programme of equal level or higher.

You came from MBO

If you came from MBO, the conditions are as follows:

• You have an MBO diploma.
• You are receiving student finance for HBO or university for the first time.
• You have stopped your student finance no later than 31 August.
• After stopping your student finance, you cannot get student finance for a programme in HBO or university again for a while. The period during which you cannot receive student finance depends on when you stopped your student finance:
  • Student finance stopped in the period 1 September up to and including 1 February: you cannot receive student finance until the end of the academic year.
  • Student finance stopped between 1 February and 1 September: you cannot receive student finance until 1 February in the next academic year.

Once for MBO, once for university or HBO

You can use the first year scheme once for secondary vocational education (MBO) and once university or higher vocational education (HBO). The student finance you received in your 1st year counts as months of student finance already used. You cannot use them again later.

Apply for the 1st year scheme

1. Log in to My DUO to stop your student finance.
2. Cancel your student travel product.
3. You will receive automatic notification that the debt for your student grant and your travel product has been cancelled. This notification is sent approximately one year later, in January.

Log in to Mijn DUOwith DigiD

Checklist

Have you cancelled your student finance and student travel product? You can check in My DUO if everything has been processed correctly:

• You will no longer see any payments listed on the ‘Mijn producten’ tab.
• You will see a notification that your student travel product has been deactivated. 
• In ‘Mijn berichten’ you have received a confirmation that your student finance has been stopped.

Debt will remain visible for a while

Is the academic year in which you withdrew over? In that case, we will convert your grant in January of the next academic year. Until that time, the grant you have received from DUO will still be visible as a debt.

Refund of course fees or tuition fees

Have you withdrawn from secondary vocational education (MBO)? If so, you are often required to pay the course fees for the entire academic year. Only in specific situations are you entitled to a refund of course fees. You need to apply for this refund yourself.

To obtain a refund of tuition fees for university or higher vocational education (HBO), you need to contact your university or HBO institution.