• You must hold a board function within a student organisation or within the UM for which the Executive Board (possibly through the Faculty Board) has retained an amount of administrative months for further distribution over the different board functions.
• Study delay incurred before 1 September 2025 You perform your board function during the nominal duration of your first bachelor's or master's programme at UM. 
  Study delay incurred after 1 September 2025
  You perform your board function during the nominal duration of your Bachelor's programme (counting from your first enrolment in a Bachelor's programme at UM or the academic year thereafter (4th year of Bachelor's programme) or during the nominal duration of your Master's programme.
• You are continuously enrolled for a regular bachelor’s or master’s programme as a fulltime student at UM during the whole academic year.
• You have not yet enjoyed financial support from the UM Student Support Fund for more than 12 months of study delay in total. An extension of performance grant by DUO equals financial support from the UM Student Support Fund for 12 months of study delay.
• The chair of the student organisation nominates you for the number of administrative months that have been requested and retained for your specific board position.
• You will not give your administrative months to your student organisation. Administrative months are intended as UM-support for extra study costs of an individual student. They don’t belong to your student organisation nor are they transferable to another board member.
   

Download the conditions and regulations of the UM 'Profileringsfonds' Regulations:

UM 'Profileringsfonds' Regulations

Download the conditions and regulations of the UM Student Support Fund:

UM Student Support Fund Regulations

Before 1 March: your student organisation requests the desired amount of administrative months for next study year

Before 1 March, the student organisation in which you are active must request the required quantity of administrative months for the upcoming study year in writing. Main criterion is the scope of work in the various positions within the board, and thereby the expected study delay of the students that will be appointed in these board positions. When it concerns a university student organisation, this request must be submitted to the Student Services Centre (SSC), and when it concerns a faculty student organisation, the request must be submitted to the Faculty Board. Annually, the SSC sends a new invitation to apply for administrative months to university student organisations that previously received administrative months.
 

Before 1 November: your nomination for administrative months by the chair of your student organisation

After the Executive Board (possibly through the Faculty Board) awarded your student organisation the total of administrative months, the chair of your student organisation nominates you at the SSC for the number of administrative months that were retained for your specific board function in response to the organisation’s application. This nomination must be done before 1 November of the year in which you will fulfil the administrative position. The student organisation must prove your appointment as a board member though a recent abstract of the Chamber of Commerce.

The SSC processes all nominations for administrative months. If you have been nominated, the SSC will check if you meet the conditions for receiving administrative months and will inform you thereof. The SSC also takes care of the payment of the individually allocated administrative months.

For students with a fulltime administrative position UM offers the extra possibility to a once-only exemption from paying statutory tuition fees.

To qualify for this regulation, you must:

• be registered for a fulltime study programme at the UM during the entire study year;
• hold a board function, with an average workload of at least 40 hours per week;
• be eligible for statutory tuition fees;
• be eligible to receive 12 administrative months from the UM Student Support Fund;
• have earned all 60 ECTS of the first year of your bachelor’s programme and an average of 40 ECTS per study year since your first enrolment at UM.

Implications

• You may still qualify for student finance from DUO (‘studiefinanciering’) through your enrolment at UM.
• You will not have to pay statutory tuition fees, and at the same time receive 12 administrative months for study delay due to your fulltime board function.
• You are not allowed to enjoy any form of education and you cannot take any exams/examinations during the entire study year.
• You cannot graduate before 31 August of your study year with tuition fees exception.

If you want to apply for exemption from paying statutory tuition fees due to fulltime board function, you can email the application form together with the required attachments to studentendecanen@maastrichtuniversity.nl. An application for exemption from statutory tuition fees must be filed before 1 August of the study year preceding your board year.

Please enclose the following documents with your application:

• A recent results overview with exam dates and stamp, available from the Educations Office at your faculty.
• A copy of your student ID.
• A signed and dated statement from your student organisation’s chair in which they confirm on behalf of the organisation:
  - that you have accepted a designated board function for next study year with a workload of on average 40 hours a week;
  -  that the student organisation will nominate you with the SSC for 12 board month the following November.

Read more about the regulations:
Tuition Fee Exemption Due to Administrative Activities for Students at Maastricht University

• You are enrolled as a full-time UM student in a bachelor's or initial master's programme.
• Study delay incurred before 1 September 2025: during the nominal duration of your first bachelor's or master's programme at UM.
• Study delay incurred after 1 September 2025: during the nominal duration of your Bachelor's programme (counting from your first enrolment in a bachelor's programme at UM or the academic year thereafter (4th year of bachelor's programme) or during the nominal duration of your master's programme.
• You have timely reported your special circumstance to the student advisor, the student dean or Disability Support. In principle, this is within two months after the special circumstance arose. Do not wait to report until you have actually experienced study delay.
• Your study delay is the direct consequence of the special circumstance.
• You have incurred a study delay of at least five ECTS.
   

Read more:

In case of study delay incurred after 1 September 2025: Studentenondersteuningsfonds (StOF) regulation

In case of study delay incurred before 1 September 2025: Regulation UM 'Profileringsfonds'

In case of a special circumstance that may affect your study progress, always contact your study adviser. In any case, do so within two months of the special circumstance occurring. Discuss with the study adviser how you can possibly prevent or further limit study delay. In case of late notification, only the study delay up to 2 months before the notification will be taken into account when applying for financial support. What also counts is whether the agreements made with the student adviser to (further) reduce study delay have been met.

After the end of the academic year in which the study delay occurred, it can  be assessed how big your study delay eventually became. This assessment will take place in consultation with the study advisor, who is familiar with the curriculum of your programme and who will have to answer a few questions on your digital application. Together with the study adviser you submit a digital application form. For this, you need to contact the study adviser yourself to start the application. 
Preferably do this as soon as possible after the end of the academic year in which the delay occurred. If you deregister before the end of the academic year (because of graduation or because you are going to quit your programme), or in case of pregnancy you do not have to wait until the end of the academic year. You will receive a confirmation of receipt when your application has been received.

A separate application is required for each academic year in which study delay due to force majeure occurs, even if the same circumstance leads to study delay in two different academic years.

Your application must be submitted no later than six months after the end of the academic year in which you suffered study delay. So always before 1 March following the delayed academic year and in any case at least two months before you deregister from UM.

The Director of the Student Services Centre (SSC) will decide on your application after advice from the student dean. In case of a positive decision, the financial support amounts to € 345,50 per established month (five ECTS) of study delay incurred. You can receive a maximum total of 12 months of financial support per enrolment for the entire period you are enrolled at UM.

Depending on the nature (medical circumstance only) and duration (substantial study delay) of the special circumstance that led to study delay, the SSC Director refers to DUO for an application for performance grant extension. In that case, instead of financial support from the UM Student Support Fund, the student dean will support a request for a 12-month performance extension via DUO.

Your application will be rejected if you do not meet the general conditions for eligibility for financial support from the UM Student Support Fund, or, for example, because the causal link between study delay and special circumstance is not plausible.

Within eight weeks, you will receive a written response to your application from the director of the Student Services Centre.

Watch the video below to see how it works:

The UM Student Support Fund provides financial support as a contribution to the extra costs of studying as a result of (expected) study delay caused by the following special circumstances:

• force majeure such as illness, special family circumstances (including caring responsibilities), pregnancy or disability
• administrative positions, such as membership of a Council, board of a programme or a student organisation
• practicing top-level sports

Regulation Profileringsfonds

Regulation Student Support Fund

If your studies are delayed or you expect that your studies might be delayed, due to chronic or acute illness, pregnancy, personal circumstances, a position on the board of a student organisation or participation in top-level sports, and as a result you cannot graduate within the time allowed for your study programme, you may be able to get financial support from the UM Student Support Fund (SSF).

Starting student organisations that do not (yet) meet the criteria for fixed annual subsidy and students who organise an activity that fits within the vision and strategy of UM may be eligible for a Promotion Fund subsidy for student activities.

Certain general UM-affiliated student organisations with 50 or more members, at least 35 of whom study at UM, may receive a fixed annual subsidy under certain conditions. This is called the regular budget subsidy.

Study grants and private funds

Are you a UM student interested in studying, doing an internship or doing research abroad? Then find out if there is a scholarship or fund to help you finance this. You may also consult scholarship opportunities through other organisations.

Private funds are funds provided by foundations or organisations outside UM to students with financial difficulties and are awarded based on specific criteria, such as very high grades or other specific qualities. Keep in mind that private funds offer limited financial support, often in the form of a grant, but sometimes in the form of a loan on attractive terms. For most private funds you must submit a request on time and need a letter of support from a student dean. If so, please contact the student dean by email: studentdeans@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Find information about private funds via Nuffic’s Beursopener (in Dutch)

University Fund Limburg/SWOL

The University Fund Limburg/SWOL issues grants and subsidies under specific conditions. For good initiatives by students for students, the University Fund Limburg/SWOL provides annual grants specifically for activities by UM students. For students wishing to study in Maastricht, various scholarships are provided through the University Fund Limburg/SWOL.

On the University Fund Limburg website you can find more information and application terms

UM Emergency Fund
 

If, suddenly and unexpectedly, circumstances arise that lead to acute financial distress and jeopardise the continuation of your studies, and other available funds and arrangements within and outside the UM do not provide a solution, UM may be able to help with a one-off payment from the UM Emergency Fund. This benefit may not be used to pay your tuition fees. You can discuss with your study adviser whether submitting an application for the UM Emergency Fund is possible.