Applying for study benefit for students with a disability

Do you receive government financial support for your tertiary or secondary education? Are you unable to earn extra income due to a chronic illness or disability? Then you may be eligible for study benefit (studietoeslag) from your municipality.

In all cases, the following conditions must be met to be eligible to receive study benefit:

you receive student finance (studiefinanciering) as a tertiary student or a basic allowance (basistoelage) for secondary students;
you cannot earn extra income alongside your studies because of your disability.
you are not entitled to the Wajong benefit

Ask your municipality about all the conditions that apply.

You can apply for study benefit at the municipality where you live, regardless of where you are studying.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Utrecht

Here is some information from your municipality.

Apply for a study allowance

The study allowance is € 362,36 per month. It is not a loan that you have to pay back. You can keep the money and use it for whatever you want. For example for room rent or to reduce your scholarship. Then you need to borrow less money and you have less debt.

You have a physical or mental disability, or a chronic illness that prevents you from working alongside your studies.
You receive student finance or a student allowance (Wtos). It doesn't matter if you study at an ROC, a high school or university or go to college.
You cannot earn extra money in addition to your studies due to a permanent or long-term medical disability. This is a chronic illness, a physical or mental disability. You will not receive a study allowance for, for example:
- a broken leg
- a medical treatment with a recovery period of six months
- a social disability such as providing informal care
Do you receive an internship allowance? Then you pass this on to us. Is the internship allowance higher than € 211,67 per month? Then we deduct the amount above € 211,67 from the study allowance.
You have proof of your medical disability. This may be a statement from an expert about your medical disability. Don't have proof yet? Apply for the study allowance in advance. We can ask an expert (for example a doctor) to investigate this.

Copy of a doctor's statement showing your situation. You are not obliged to send this statement to us. We may then request medical advice.
Bank statement of the bank account on which you want to receive the study allowance. The account number and your name are clearly visible.
A copy of a valid Dutch passport or Dutch ID.
Decision (letter with decision) from DUO stating that you are using Wet tegemoetkoming onderwijsbijdrage en schoolkosten (WTOS) or student finance. You can also apply for a study allowance if DUO has allocated an amount of € 0 to you.

Apply for the study allowance in the municipality where you live, even if you study in another municipality. You need your DigiD. Send your inquiry on time.

Apply retroactively

You can apply for a study allowance with retroactive effect if you meet the conditions for that period. This can be done up to 5 years back, but this new regulation took effect on 1 April 2022. This means that the retroactive effect cannot go beyond 1 April 2022.

You will receive a letter informing you of the outcome within 8 weeks of your application. What happens if the application is incomplete or more time is needed for the investigation? Processing may take longer than 8 weeks in such cases.