Student Support Regulation

Part 1&2: Study delay due to force majeure or specific situations

• Check whether you meet the conditions to register your study delay

  Study delay due to force majeure or specific situations are covered by Force majeure (Part 1) or Specific situations (Part 2) of the Student Support Regulation.

  Refer to the relevant flow chart below to check whether you meet the conditions for registering your study delay for the Student Support Regulation (SSR).

  Click here for the flow chart if you are not eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO (Non-EU/EEA, CH and UK students and some EU/EEA, CH and UK students).

  Click here for the flow chart if you are eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO (Dutch students and some EU/EEA, CH or UK  students).

  To register your study delay you must meet the following conditions:

  • In the previous academic year, you were in your SSR registration period: regular duration of your degree programme + 1 year (for students who are not eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO)

  or

  In the previous academic year, you were entitled to a basic grant (for students who are eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO)

  • In the previous academic year, you studied full-time and paid tuition fees to VU Amsterdam
  • In the previous academic year, you earned fewer than 60 credits, including credits earned for extracurricular courses and/or credits earned in another program
  • In the previous academic year, you notified your Academic Advisor - by email or appointment - of your special circumstances. Notifying a Student Counsellor, Study Coordinator, Thesis Supervisor, etc. is not a valid notification. When calculating how much study delay you experienced, a maximum of three months prior to the date that you notified your Academic Advisor can be taken into consideration.

• Register your study delay

  Each academic year, register any study delay you experienced due to special circumstances, including for chronic conditions. When calculating how much financial support you are eligible for from the Student Support Regulation, only the academic years in which you reported and registered your study delay can be taken into consideration.

  It is not possible to retroactively register your study delay for the Student Support Regulation for previous academic years.

  Study delay incurred in the previous academic year can be registered from 1 September to 30 November.

  The deadline for submitting a request for registration of your study delay in 2024-2025 has passed. As from 1 September 2026 the registration form for study delay in the academic year 2025-2026 can be found here.

• Check your e-mail

  After you have submitted your registration form and the Academic Advisor has forwarded it to the Secretary of the Student Support Regulation (SSR), you will receive a confirmation email.

  Within 6 weeks of receiving the confirmation email, you will receive another message about the next steps in the process. Specific information regarding your situation is included in this email, but see below for the general procedure.

  For students who are not eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO:

  • During your SSR registration period (regular duration of your degree programme + 1 year), continue to register your study delay each year.
  • Once your SSR registration period has ended, discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay with the Student Counsellor.
  • The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation.

  For students who are eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO:

  • As long as you receive a basic grant, continue to register your study delay each year.
  • Once your basic grant period has ended, discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay with the Student Counsellor.
  • The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation and/or an extension of the performance grant from DUO.

Parts 3, 4 & 5: Grants & Tuition fee waivers for board membership

• Advisory work and student participation activities (Part 3)

  If you are involved in student participation activities or work for a VU Amsterdam advisory body during the 2024-2025 academic year, Part 3 of the Student Support Regulation applies.

  You are actively involved in the role of: 

  • member of representative council at university (USR) or faculty level (FSR)
  • member of a program committee (OLC)
  • auditor of a faculty board (FB)

  When and how should you apply for financial support?

  Fill in the application form below and submit it from 1 September to 1 November 2025, following the end of the academic year in which the board activities took place.

  Forms
  The application form for Programme Committee members 2024-2025 can be found here.
  The application form for Faculty Student Council members 2024-2025 can be found here.
  The application form for auditors of a Faculty Board 2024-2025 can be found here.

  For more detailed information on the requirements for this provision see Part 3 of the Student Support Regulation.

• Student Organisations (Part 4)

  This part of the Regulations is applicable to student organisations recognised by VU Amsterdam.

  List of student organisations recognised by VU Amsterdam

  Administrative budget

  If you serve on the board of a student organisation (association or foundation) recognised by VU Amsterdam, you are most likely eligible for an administrative budget.

  Your organisation’s board must submit a request using the form below from 1 September to 1 November 2025. This must be done following the end of the academic year in which the board activities took place.

  Form 
  Fill in the application form for 2024-2025 and send it in together with the required document.

  Recognition of student organisations

  To receive an administrative budget, you must be a student organisation (association or foundation) recognised by the VU. To be recognised, you must meet several conditions. For example, a student organisation must exist for at least one year from the date of the notary's deed of incorporation. Furthermore, an organisation must have at least 75 contribution-paying student members who are enrolled as full-time undergraduate or graduate students at VU on the reference date of 1 January in the year in which recognition is applied for. Recognition takes effect from 1 September of the year in which it was granted and is valid for a period of three years.

  When and how to apply for recognition as a student organisation
  The application for (re-)recognition can be submitted from 1 April to 1 May. Please note that in the year the recognition is granted, the sitting board is not yet entitled to an administrative budget. This means that if the organisation is recognised in the summer of 2025, the 2025-2026 board will only be entitled to an administrative budget (and can apply for it between 1 September and 1 November 2026). 

  With an increased number of VU student members, it is possible to request an interim review (recount) of the allocated number of units. A request can be submitted from 1 April to 1 May. This will only be granted if the student association's board demonstrates that the membership has grown to 10% above the minimum number of members required to receive a larger administrative budget. A granted change (budget increase) takes effect from 1 September of the relevant academic year.

  Form
  As of the end of March 2026, the application form will be available here.

  For more detailed information on the terms and conditions for recognition and the allocation of an administrative budget see Part 4 of the Student Support Regulation.

• Supplementary grant or Tuition fee waiver for board membership (Part 5)

  In the 2025-2026 academic year, those taking on a full-time role on the board of one of the associations or student organisations listed below can choose between the Provision for Additional Support or Tuition fee waiver for board membership. You must decide on this before the commencement of the academic year (1 September). Once you have made your decision, it is final. You are not allowed to use both provisions. You can use one of these two provisions for up to one academic year.

  Do you wish to attend classes, sit exams, or graduate during your board year? If that is the case, you should opt for the Provision for Additional Support because you're not allowed to do before mentioned activities when you opt for the tuition fee waiver.

  Eligible associations and student organisations:

  • USR (president, vice-president, three coordinators)
  • AUCSA  
  • Aureus 
  • Gyrinus natans 
  • MFVU 
  • QBDBD 
  • Storm 
  • VSPVU

  Provision for Additional Support

  If, during your board year, you want to be able to attend lectures, sit exams, and register your grades, you should opt for the Provision for Additional Support. You will be eligible for a one-off payment of €2,080.- for a period of up to one academic year. Following your year in a board, your board will submit the application for this provision and for your board grant.

  Tuition fee waivers for board membership

  Are you planning not to attend classes, sit exams, or graduate during you board year? If so, you can opt for a tuition fee waiver for board membership.

  To qualify for a tuition fee waiver for board membership, you must register for your degree programme before 1 September in Studielink and submit your application for the waiver before that date.

  Together with your application for a tuition fee waiver for board membership, you need to submit a statement waiving your right to attend classes, sit exams, graduate, and receive supervision for study and research activities at VU Amsterdam or any other funded institution for the entire academic year in which you serve on the board. You must complete the declaration concerning Tuition fee waivers for board membership and upload it with your application.

  At the end of the academic year in which you served as a full-time board member while registered as a student, your compliance with the requirements will be verified. If this verification procedure reveals any non-compliance, you will be required to pay the tuition fees for this academic year.

  In case the online application form is not available to you: Application form tuition-free boards

  For more detailed information on the requirements for these two provisions see Part 5 of the Student Support Regulation.

FAQ Part 1&2

• 1. How do I register my study delay for an academic year prior to 2024-2025?

  It is not possible to register your study delay retroactively for the Student Support Regulation for previous academic years.

• 2. I’m not sure if I meet the conditions to register my study delay for 2024-2025. What should I do?

  First, check whether you meet the conditions using the flowchart above. If you are still unsure, complete the ‘Study Delay Registration’ form. The Secretary of the Student Support Regulation will then check whether you meet the conditions and whether your registration is valid. For questions, you can also contact your Academic Advisor.

• 3. Does the term ‘insufficiently feasible degree programme’ apply in my case?

  An ‘insufficiently feasible degree programme’ is applicable if you incurred study delay through no fault of your own but due to a failure of the degree programme to offer coursework in a given period and meanwhile it was not possible for you to terminate your enrollment without incurring further study delay.

  To register your study delay on the grounds of 'insufficiently feasible degree programme’, an official statement from the faculty is required. Please contact your Academic Advisor about this.

• 4. I experienced study delay due to personal circumstances so why am I not eligible to register my study delay for the previous academic year?

  Even if you incurred study delay due to personal circumstances, you do no meet the conditions to register your study delay if in the previous academic year one or more of the following applied:

  • You were no longer in your SSR registration period: regular duration of your degree programme + 1 year (for students who are not eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO).
    Or
    You were no longer entitled to a basic grant (for students who are eligible for Dutch student finance from DUO).
  • You were a part time student, premaster student, enrolled for contract education or an exchange program (only students who had a full time bachelor or master enrollment can register their study delay).
  • You paid your tuition fees to another university in the Netherlands.
  • You did not report your circumstances to the Academic Advisor or were too late (more than 3 months afterwards) in reporting your circumstances to the Academic Advisor. 
  • You earned in total 60 EC or more, including for extracurricular courses, courses taken at a different university and courses from a different year in your degree programme.

• 5. Why did I receive an email from my Academic Advisor about the Student Support Regulation if I’m not eligible for it?

  The Academic Advisors send the email to all students who possibly could be eligible for the Student Support Regulation. Students can then check for themselves whether they meet the conditions for registering their study delay. By not narrowing down the list of students who receive the email, we avoid mistakenly removing a student from the list who is eligible for financial support from the SSR. This means that some students will receive the email, check the conditions and find that they are unfortunately not eligible to register their study delay.

• 6. I submitted my study delay registration form but haven’t received a confirmation email yet. What should I do?

  Allow at least 2 weeks for your Academic Advisor to review your form and to forward it to the Secretary of the Student Support Regulation.

  If after 2 weeks, you have not received a confirmation email (be sure to check your spam folder!), you can check with your Academic Advisor or the Secretary of the Student Support Regulation (soz.stof@vu.nl) whether your registration form has been received yet.

• 7. In a previous academic year, I successfully registered my study delay and I am now no longer in my SSR registration period. What should I do?

  If you incurred study delay in the previous academic year due to personal circumstances, and if you once again meet the conditions, register your study delay for the previous academic year. Then await an email from the Secretary for the Student Support Fund with further instructions.

  If you did not incur study delay in the previous academic year or if you do not meet the conditions to register your study delay for the previous academic year, then book an appointment with the Student Counsellor to discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay. The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation.

• 8. In a previous academic year, I successfully registered my study delay and I now no longer receive a base grant from DUO (Dutch student finance). What should I do?

  If you incurred study delay in the previous academic year due to personal circumstances, and if you once again meet the conditions, register your study delay. Then await an email from the Secretary for the Student Support Fund with further instructions.

  If you did not incur study delay in the previous academic year or if you do not meet the conditions to register your study delay for the previous academic year, then book an appointment with the Student Counsellor to discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay. The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation and/or an extension of the performance grant from DUO.

• 9. In a previous academic year, I successfully registered my study delay and I have now started / switched to a second degree programme. What should I do?

  If you incurred study delay in the previous academic year due to personal circumstances, and if you once again meet the conditions, register your study delay for the previous academic year. Then await an email from the Secretary for the Student Support Fund with further instructions.

  If you did not incur study delay in the previous academic year or if you do not meet the conditions to register your study delay for the previous academic year, then book an appointment with the Student Counsellor to discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay. The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation.

• 10. In a previous academic year, I successfully registered my study delay and I have since graduated and am no longer enrolled as a fulltime student at the VU Amsterdam. What should I do?

  First of all, congratulations!

  If you incurred study delay in the previous academic year due to personal circumstances, and if you once again meet the conditions, register your study delay for the previous academic year. Then await an email from the Secretary for the Student Support Fund with further instructions.

  If you did not incur study delay in the previous academic year or if you do not meet the conditions to register your study delay for the previous academic year, then book an appointment with the Student Counsellor to discuss your study progress and any special circumstances that led to the registered study delay. The Student Counsellor will explore the possibilities for granting financial support from the Student Support Regulation.

• 11. In a previous academic year, I successfully registered my study delay and I have since terminated my enrollment at the VU Amsterdam. What should I do?

  If you incurred study delay in the previous academic year due to personal circumstances, and if you once again meet the conditions, register your study delay for the previous academic year. Then await an email from the Secretary for the Student Support Fund with further instructions.

More about study progress or study delay