Maastricht University NL-High Potential Scholarships for International Students

The Maastricht University (UM) NL-High Potential Scholarship programme offers 21 full scholarships of €36.000 (including tuition fee waiver and monthly stipend) each academic year for highly talented students from outside the European Union (EU) who have been admitted to a Master’s programme at UM.

Maastricht University, Netherlands

List of participating Master’s programmes for 2027-28 under this scholarship programme. 

21 awards available

International students from a country outside the EU/EEA.

The scholarship covers living expenses (€20,150 – 13 months; €38,750 – 25 months), health and liability insurance (€700), visa application costs (at cost), tuition fee (at cost), and pre-academic training costs.

The High Potential scholarship is awarded for the duration of the Master’s programme – 13 months for a one-year master’s programme and 25 months for a two-year master’s programme.

All candidates must meet the following requirements:

• • You hold nationality in a country outside the EU/EEA, Switzerland or Surinam and meet the requirements for obtaining an entry visa and residence permit for the Netherlands.
• • You do not hold a double nationality from an EU/EEA country.
• • You have applied for admission to a full-time Master’s programme at Maastricht University for the 2027-2028 academic year (see the list of participating programs above).
• • You meet the specific admission requirements of the UM Master’s programme to which you have applied.
• • You have never participated in a degree-seeking higher education programme, a primary education programme, or secondary education programme in the Netherlands. Students who completed exchange programmes in the Netherlands are welcome to apply.
• • Preference will be given to candidates who have not yet obtained a Master’s degree.
• • You are not over 35 years of age on 1 September 2027.
• • You have obtained excellent results during your prior education programmes, as demonstrated by your latest grade transcript showing a GPA of 7,5 out of 10 or higher.
• •You agree to become an active UM NL High Potential and UM ambassador during and after your studies, by committing to share your experiences during at least one (information) session for students and/or other stakeholders.
• • You can only submit an application once, please make sure all documents meet the requirements before you start your application. We cannot add or replace documents after you submit the application

To apply for the scholarship, you must first register for one of the participating Master’s Programme (MA) at Maastricht University. Once you have submitted your application via Studielink, you will receive a student ID number which you will need in order to complete and submit the Scholarship Application Form.  You must then fill in the scholarship application form (by logging in wtih your UM account), upload the required documents, and submit your application online. The admission deadline when applying for this Scholarship is 10 December 2025. The scholarship application deadline is 1 February 2027, 23:59 CET.

It is important to visit the official website (link found below) to access the application form and for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.