Students furious at plan to scrap grants

The national students union LSVb is furious about plans by the pending Labour-Liberal administration to scrap student grants.


At the moment, students who live away from home get some €260 a month from the government to help pay for their studies. Students who still live with their parents get around €90. They can borrow a further €650 a month.
Sources close to the coalition talks say the two parties have agreed to abolish grants and increase the amount students can borrow. They earlier went public with plans to scrap the pending fine for slow students, which would have increased their fees by €3,000 a year.
The LSVb says the decision to stop paying student grants will only add to the debts which students leave college and university with – currently averaging around €15,000.
The measure is a stab in the back for the Netherlands as a knowledge economy and will hurt access to higher education, a spokeswoman said.
Should students get a grant to study? Have your say using the comment box below.

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