Utrecht Excellence Scholarships

• The Utrecht Excellence Scholarship (UES) is a highly selective program.
• It is designed for talented international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
• The scholarship is for students who wish to pursue a Master’s degree at Utrecht University.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a Utrecht Excellence Scholarship, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must belong to the top 10% of your graduating class.
• You must not hold an EU/EEA passport and not be eligible for support under the Dutch study grant and loan system.
• You must have completed your secondary school and/or bachelor’s degree outside the Netherlands.
• You must have applied for an international master’s programme with a start date of 1 September 2025. Not all programmes participate. Please check Master’s programme > Tuition fees and financial support to see if the Utrecht Excellence Scholarship is mentioned as a scholarship opportunity.

Scholarship amount

The Utrecht Excellence scholarship can be awarded as:

• the tuition fee, or
• the tuition fee plus the income required for a period of one year linked to a residence permit for study as determined by the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service).

The scholarship can be renewed for the second year of two-year master’s programmes.

Selection criteria

Eligible candidates will be selected for a scholarship based on the following criteria:

• Academic quality and promise in the proposed field of study, as evidenced by your master’s application.
• Academic excellence, as evidenced by proof of belonging to the top 10% of your graduating class (class ranking certificate, GPA with grade distribution summary, statement/reference letter signed and stamped by your university).
• The quality and relevance of your motivation letter for the master’s programme (academic content, intercultural and communication skills, personal motivation).
• The quality of the application for the master’s programme itself (completeness, accuracy, consistency).

How to apply