THE HAGUE – Interest rates on student loans will go up in 2027 for roughly a quarter of a million former students in the Dutch system. Those who must repay their loan within fifteen years will pay 3.28 percent interest, almost one percentage point more than at present.
The increase applies to loans from DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education executive agency responsible for student finance). Former students from Bonaire who studied with a Dutch student loan may also be affected.
For former students who have 35 years to repay, the rate will rise by 0.37 percentage points to 2.7 percent. Anyone who took out a student loan before 2015 falls under the fifteen-year system. Students who started after that date are allowed 35 years to repay and pay a lower interest rate.
Not everyone will be affected by the new rate straight away. After graduation, the interest rate is fixed for periods of five years at a time. The new percentage will therefore apply to former students who received a loan this year and to those whose five-year fixed-rate period is ending.
Interest rates stayed at zero percent for years. In January 2023, the rate was set higher for the first time, at 0.46 percent. A year later, it rose to 2.56 percent.
The Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg (ISO), a national student interest organisation, calls it a “steep increase”. According to the ISO, the rise could in practice mean that former students have to repay “thousands of euros extra”. The organisation argues that the costs of economically uncertain times are thus being passed on to students.
