Know what you’re entitled to.

Dutch students draw on one central system — studiefinanciering from DUO — plus national allowances for healthcare and rent, municipal support for students with a disability, and EU mobility grants. The basic grant returned in 2023, and most amounts re-index every January. EU citizens working at least 32 hours per month qualify for the full package.

German students assemble their funding from several building blocks. The centerpiece is BAföG — half grant, half zero-interest loan with a hard repayment cap — flanked by merit scholarships like the Deutschlandstipendium and the thirteen Begabtenförderungswerke, state-backed loans from KfW and the Bundesverwaltungsamt, and family-side benefits such as Kindergeld and housing support. Most amounts re-index in steps: BAföG through its reform rounds, Kindergeld and the semester ticket each January. Every entry below carries its sources; amounts are winter semester 2025/26 rates, with 2026 figures where they apply.

Student support in Portugal centres on the means-tested bolsa de estudo from DGES — €871.25 to €6,444.50 a year in 2025/26 — topped up by housing complements for displaced students. Around it sit the merit scholarship, the +Superior grant for studying in the interior, Erasmus+ mobility funding, and free public transport for everyone up to 23. Most amounts are multiples of the IAS social-support index or the minimum wage (RMMG), so they move every year — and every entry below lists its formula alongside official sources.