Repayment rules
New terms
The terms for repaying student debt have changed:
- 'Rules from 2018' is now 'SF35'
- 'Rules from 2012' is now 'SF15'
- 'Rules before 2012' is now 'SF15-old'
- 'Rules for the lifelong learning credit' is now 'SF15-lllc'
Not everybody is subject to the same rules when paying back a student loan. There are 4 different sets of repayment rules:
SF35
- You always pay by direct debit.
- Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.
- Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.
- Your repayment period lasts up to 35 years.
- You don’t need to pay back anything if your capacity to pay is less than €5 per month.
- You never have to pay more than 4 percent of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single without children, this threshold is 100 per cent of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 143 per cent.
- From the start of your preliminary phase, the interest rate is fixed for 5 years at a time.
- The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September. The percentage may differ from the SF15-oud and SF15 repayment rules. Under the SF15-oud and SF15 repayment rules, the interest rate equals the average yield in the month of September alone.
SF15
- You always pay by direct debit.
- Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.
- Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.
- Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years.
- You never have to pay more than 12 per cent of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single without children, this threshold is 84 per cent of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 120 per cent.
- From the start of your preliminary phase, the interest rate is fixed for 5 years at a time.
- The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds in September. The percentage may differ from the SF35 repayment rules. Under the SF35 repayment rules, the interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September.
SF15-old
- You can choose to pay by direct debit.
- If you pay by direct debit, you receive a € 0.77 discount on your monthly instalment. However, if a direct debit fails, there is no discount for this month.
- You can apply for a reduction to your monthly instalment yourself. You decide whether or not to include your partner’s income when calculating your payments.
- Your repayment period lasts 15 years. But if your partner’s income is disregarded, you are due to keep making payments until your debt is fully paid. This means the repayment period is extended.
- Your income is divided into bands. In each band you pay a different percentage of your income, rising as your earnings increase.
- From the start of your preliminary phase, the interest rate is fixed for 5 years at a time.
- Like the SF15 rules, the interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds in September. The percentage may differ from the SF35 repayment rules. Under the SF35 repayment rules, the interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September.
SF15-lllc
- You always pay by direct debit.
- Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.
- Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.
- Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years.
- You never have to pay more than 12 per cent of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single without children, this threshold is 84 per cent of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 120 per cent.
- On 1 January after your lifelong learning credit stops, the repayment phase begins. From then onwards the interest rate is fixed for 5 years at a time.
- The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September. The percentage may differ from the SF15-oud and SF15 repayment rules. Under the SF15-oud and SF15 repayment rules, the interest rate equals the average yield in the month of September alone.
Which rules apply to you?
In Mijn DUO, under 'Mijn schulden', you can find which repayment rules apply to you.
The rules that apply to you depend on your education and when you first received student financing. This applies globally:
You are subject under SF 35 if you
- receive student financing for the first time in or after the 2023-2024 academic year
- received student financing for the first time for a higher professional education or university course in or after the 2015-2016 academic year
- receive student financing for an MBO course before and after August 1, 2023 without interruption
In other cases, you usually fall under one of the other rules for which the repayment period is 15 years.
Switching repayment rules
Sometimes you may switch repayment rules. You will receive information about this in February/March of the calendaryear following your last student grant. A few months before your repayment phase starts, you will receive a letter about requesting the switch. If you have received this letter and you do want to switch, you can arrange this in Mijn DUO. Do this before the start of your repayment period. After that, switching is no longer possible.
If you switch, the rules you chose will take effect as soon as the repayment period starts.
You can use the calculation tool (only in Dutch) to see what switching means for the repayment of your debt.
No access to Mijn DUO
If you have no access to Mijn DUO, use the Aanvraag overstap terugbetalingsregels form instead.
Compare repayment rules
Payment method
| * In addition to the lifelong learning credit, do you also have a debt under the rules from SF15-old? Only for the latter you will receive the € 0.77 discount if you pay by direct debit. | |
| SF35 | You always pay by direct debit. |
|---|---|
| SF15 | You always pay by direct debit. |
| SF15-old | You can opt to pay by direct debit. If you do so, you receive a € 0.77 discount on your monthly instalment. However, if a direct debit fails, there is no discount for this month. |
| SF15-lllc | You always pay by direct debit. * |
Reducing your monthly instalment
| SF35 | Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard. |
|---|---|
| SF15 | Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard. |
| SF15-old | You can apply for a reduction of your monthly repayments yourself. |
| SF15-lllc | Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard. |
Partner’s income
| * In addition to the lifelong learning credit, do you also have a debt that is subject to rules from SF15-old? In that case, you can decide for yourself whether or not to include your partner’s income for this debt. | |
| SF35 | Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay. |
|---|---|
| SF15 | Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay. |
| SF15-old | You decide whether or not to include your partner’s income when calculating your payments. |
| SF15-lllc | Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.* |
Duration
| SF35 | Your repayment period lasts up to 35 years and starts 2 years after your eligibility for student finance ends. |
|---|---|
| SF15 | Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years and starts 2 years after your eligibility for student finance ends. |
| SF15-old | Your repayment period lasts 15 years and starts 2 years after your eligibility for student finance ends. But if your partner’s income is disregarded, you are due to keep making payments until your debt is fully paid. This means the repayment period is extended. |
| SF15-lllc | Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years and starts the year after your eligibility for student finance ends. |
Calculation of ability to pay
Go to Calculation of your monthly instalments to read how your repayment rules affect your ability to pay.
Interest
From the start of your preliminary phase, the interest rate is fixed for 5 years at a time. The interest rate is calculated as follows:
| SF35 | The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September. |
|---|---|
| SF15 | The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds in September. |
| SF15-old | The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds in September. |
| SF15-lllc | The interest rate equals the average yield of the 5-year bonds from October up to and including September. |