The total volume of student debt owed across the Netherlands has declined for the very first time, marking a significant milestone in the country’s higher education financing landscape, according to data released by the national statistics office, CBS.
At the start of 2026, students and former graduates in the Netherlands owed a combined total of €28 billion. This figure represents a notable decrease of €800 million compared to just one year earlier, reversing a long-standing upward trend that had gripped the nation’s academic community for years.
According to the CBS, this historic downward turn is primarily driven by a sharp reduction in the number of students taking out loans. This shift follows the reinstatement of the basic student grant for higher education students, which officially returned during the 2023–2024 academic year.
The financial climate for Dutch university and college students has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past decade. In 2015, the Dutch government controversially scrapped the traditional basic student grant system and replaced it with a social loan system. Under that framework, a generation of students was forced to rely heavily on borrowing money to cover their everyday living costs, tuition fees, and housing expenses while pursuing their degrees.
The consequences of that loan system are still visible across the broader population, though the tide has visibly begun to turn. As of January 2026, approximately 1.5 million people in the Netherlands carried some form of student debt. However, this total head count has now fallen for three consecutive years, reflecting a broader cultural and financial retreat from student borrowing.
The number of current, actively enrolled students who carry a loan has plummeted dramatically. CBS figures show that figure has dropped to approximately 400,000, representing a staggering reduction of 210,000 students since the peak year of 2023. With the basic grant back in place, thousands of young adults have managed to navigate their studies without incurring long-term financial liabilities.
While current enrollment cohorts are borrowing far less, the demographic of former students who have already graduated paints a more complex picture. The number of former students holding outstanding debt continues to grow, though the pace of that growth has slowed substantially. This group expanded by just over 6,000 people over the past year—a sharp deceleration when compared to the annual increase of 28,000 recorded previously. In total, more than 1.1 million former students currently carry debt from their higher education years.
At the same time, the distribution of debt reveals a growing polarization among borrowers. While many manage to keep their liabilities relatively modest, individuals burdened with exceptionally large debts have become increasingly common. Approximately 145,000 people in the Netherlands now owe €50,000 or more, a figure that is twice as high as it was six years ago. Within that group, nearly 5,000 individuals carry a heavy financial burden of at least €100,000.
Conversely, a significant portion of the borrowing population sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. Nearly half of all individuals with student loans owe less than €10,000, suggesting that many students used the loan system selectively or managed to pay down substantial portions of their principal while still studying or shortly after entering the workforce.
When examining the macro-level averages, the CBS data indicates that the overall average debt has risen by €5,900 since the loan system was first introduced in 2015, bringing the national average to €18,300. However, a closer look at current versus former students highlights the immediate relief experienced by the newest generation of academics.
Current students now owe an average of €15,600, which is €1,000 less than the average recorded just last year. Former students, by contrast, carry a higher average debt of €19,200, reflecting the years they spent navigating the peak of the loan system without the financial cushion of a basic government stipend.
