- Do you receive compensation for board activities of €4250 for your board position?
- Are you taking up your post before 1 December 2024?
- Do you comply with Article 4 paragraphs 1 a, c, e, f, and g of the Compensation for board activities grants scheme?
Then you have three options for receiving your compensation for board activities. Whatever option you choose, it will apply to the whole of the 2023-2024 academic year. You cannot change your mind later!
Option 1: Standard compensation for board activities
- You enrol in your first Bachelor’s or Master’s programme for the 2024-2025 academic year; and
- You pay your statutory tuition fees yourself; and
- You may take examinations and graduate in that academic year (in September 2024 or August 2025, for example).
- In other words, you may graduate, but you may not terminate your enrolment during the year. Graduation and terminating enrolment are two different things.
Option 2: Tuition free board year – old style
- You do NOT enrol in the 2024-2025 academic year; and
- You do not pay statutory tuition fees (exceptions to the requirement that you remain enrolled for the whole of the academic year are only allowed in the case of ‘old style’); and
- You may not take any examinations or receive any higher education elsewhere; and
- You may not graduate in that academic year (so not in August 2025 either!!!).
These regulations have been set down by the Minister. We refer to this as the tuition free board year – old style. It is not possible to withdraw from this scheme during the course of the 2024-2025 academic year or to amend it, or to enrol in any higher education – anywhere in the Netherlands. Nor is there any legal provision for applying for the scheme for a limited number of months.
This option is often used by:
- student board members who formally graduate from their Bachelor’s programme on 31 August 2023 at the latest, who then wish to spend a year on board activities, before starting a UU Master’s programme in 2025-2026.
- Student board members who wish to take a year out from their Bachelor’s or Master’s programme including examinations and not continue or complete it until 2025-2026.
Option 3: Tuition free board year – new style
- You register for your bachelor or (subsidized) master for the entire academic year 2023-2024; and
- You are not registered for any part in 2024-2025.
- You may not take any examinations or receive any higher education anywhere; and
- You may not graduate in that academic year (so not in August 2025 either!!!).
These regulations have been set down by the minister. We refer to this as the tuition free board year – new style. It is not possible to withdraw from this scheme during the course of the 2024-2025 academic year or to amend it. Nor is there any legal provision for applying for the scheme for a limited number of months.
PLEASE NOTE: For this facility, you must issue an authorization to pay tuition fees in instalments. Only when the application for board grant has been approved will the Executive Board set the tuition fee authorization to € 0.
Sometimes the Executive Board does not approve the application for reasons until the end of September. In that case, an installment will already be deducted from your tuition fees. After approval of your application for tuition-free board year of New Style, that term will be refunded and the authorization set to € 0.
This option is often used by:
- student board members who wish to take a year out from their studies and examinations and not continue their Bachelor’s or Master’s programme at UU until 2024-2025.
- student board members who are formally graduating from their Bachelor’s programme on 31 August 2024 at the latest and are enrolling in a Master’s programme at UU in 2024-2025, at the same time wishing to perform board activities (in other words, not actually taking any subjects).
Important follow-up information!
Tuition-free board year in combination with ‘postponement of graduation’ for your bachelor can sometimes lead to unpleasant situations. Because you are not allowed to follow education during the tuition-free administration, you are also not allowed to graduate during your entire board year (= academic year).
An example:
you have passed all your courses for your bachelor in 2024-2025 and you have applied for a postponement of graduation. You will then do your board year tuition-free in 2024-2025. You may not graduate until September 2024. For this you will have to re-register for your bachelor’s degree (and pay tuition fees), but it also means that you will not have a bachelor’s degree as of 1 September 2025, while this is probably necessary for your master’s, for example if you do a master’s at another educational institution. want to follow
Tuition-free board year in combination with registration for two bachelor’s or master’s programs can also cause problems. Are you following two courses in 2023-2024? Please ask for our advice if you want to start doing your board year tuition-free in 2024-2025. This can have major financial consequences in connection with transitional arrangements for tuition fees.
You are advised to discuss your options with one of the student counsellors at UU. Send an email to bestuurlijkactiefuu@uu.nl, stating your name, student number, student organisation, and the board position you are proposing to take, and ask your question.
More information on tuiton free board year: