Repayment rules

Not everybody is subject to the same rules when paying back a student loan. There are 4 different sets of repayment rules:

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 never have to pay more than 4 per cent of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single with no children, that threshold is 100 per cent of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 143 per cent.

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 with no children, that threshold is 84 per cent of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 120 per cent.

You can opt to pay by direct debit. If you do, you receive a € 0.77 discount on your monthly instalment.
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. If your partner’s income is disregarded, that 15-year period is extended by the number of months it is disregarded.
Your income is divided into bands. In each band you pay a different percentage of your income, rising as your earnings increase.

If you have to repay lifelong learning credit, slightly different rules apply.

Which rules apply to you?

Do you want to know what repayment rules apply to you? From January 1st after your last month of student finance or lifelong learning credit, you can find this information in Mijn DUO.

Are your repayment rules not yet in Mijn DUO or are you unable to log in? Use the 'Welke regels gelden voor mij?' assistant (in Dutch only).

Switching repayment rules

Sometimes you may switch repayment rules. You will then receive a letter from us, a few months before you are due to start making repayments. 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 usually no longer possible (read the conditions).

If you switch, the rules you chose will take effect as soon as the repayment period starts.

First determine which repayment rules apply to you. Then check if you can switch.

You may switch in the following situations:

You are subject to the rules from before 2012 and your repayment period has not yet started. You can switch to the rules that apply from 2012.
You are subject to the rules from before 2012 and you received both student finance under the old system and the loan system for your HBO or university education.
- Has your repayment period for the 'old debt' not yet started? Then you can switch to the rules that apply from 2012 or the rules that apply from 2018.
- Has your repayment period for the 'old debt' already started? Then you can only switch to the rules that apply from 2018.
You are subject to the rules that apply from 2012 and you received both student finance under the old system and the loan system for your HBO or university education. If your repayment period has not yet started, you can switch to the rules that apply from 2018.

Your repayment period has started if:

you are already due to pay back
your monthly amount is set at €0
you have a payment free period.

If you are unable to log in to Mijn DUO, use the Aanvraag overstap terugbetalingsregels form instead.

Aanvraag overstap terugbetalingsregels 2023pdf, 184kb

Compare repayment rules

* In addition to the lifelong learning credit, do you also have a debt under the rules from before 2012? Only for the latter you will receive the € 0.77 discount if you pay by direct debit.
Rules from 2018	You always pay by direct debit.
Rules from 2012	You always pay by direct debit.
Rules before 2012	You can opt to pay by direct debit. If you do so, you receive a € 0.77 discount on your monthly instalment.
Rules for the lifelong learning credit	You always pay by direct debit. *

Rules from 2018	Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.
Rules from 2012	Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.
Rules before 2012	You can apply for a reduction to your monthly repayments yourself.
Rules for the lifelong learning credit	Your ability to pay is taken into account as standard.

* In addition to the lifelong learning credit, do you also have a debt that is subject to rules from before 2012? In that case, you can decide for yourself whether or not to include your partner’s income for that debt.
Rules from 2018	Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.
Rules from 2012	Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.
Rules before 2012	You decide whether or not to include your partner’s income when calculating your payments.
Rules for the lifelong learning credit	Your partner’s income always counts when calculating your ability to pay.*

Rules from 2018	Your repayment period lasts up to 35 years and starts 2 years after your entitlement to student finance ends.
Rules from 2012	Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years and starts 2 years after your entitlement to student finance ends.
Rules before 2012	Your repayment period lasts 15 years and starts 2 years after your eligibility for student finance ends. If your partner’s income is disregarded when calculating your payments, that 15-year period is extended by the number of months it is disregarded.
Rules for the lifelong learning credit	Your repayment period lasts up to 15 years and starts the year after your eligibility for student finance ends.

* In addition to the lifelong learning credit, do you also have a debt under the rules from before 2012? In that case, the maximum amount of the rules from before 2012 applies.
Rules from 2018	You never have to pay more than 4% of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single with no children, that threshold is 100% of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 143%. You always pay less than under the rules from 2012.
Rules from 2012	You never have to pay more than 12% of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single with no children, that threshold is 84% of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 120%. You usually pay less than under the rules before 2012.
Rules before 2012	Your income is divided into bands. In each band you pay a different percentage of your income, rising as your earnings increase.
Rules for the lifelong learning credit	You never have to pay more than 12% of your income above the ability threshold. If you are single without children, that threshold is 84% of the national minimum wage. In all other cases it is 120%. The monthly amount is usually lower than under the rules before 2012.*

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