Financial support Profileringsfonds in case of study delay due to force majeure

• you are enrolled as a full-time UM student and pay the statutory tuition fee for your 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 receive Dutch student grants via DUO and were still entitled to months of performance-related student grant during the period in which you were delayed in your studies. In principle, you are entitled to performance-related student grant months for the nominal duration of the study programme (bachelor's and master's together), counting from the first year that you received student finance;
• you have accumulated a study delay of at least five ECTS;
• you submit your application in time: within six months and no later than 1 March after the end of the academic year in which you incurred a study delay (if you graduate early or stop your study programme, the application must be submitted at least two months before deregistering).
   

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Regulation 'Profileringsfonds' 2023-2024
Regulation 'Profileringsfonds' 2022-2023

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 only 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 application form. For this, you need to contact the study adviser yourself. You can then submit the completed application form digitally to the Student Services Centre (SSC) via the Secretariat Profileringsfonds (profileringsfonds@maastrichtuniversity.nl).
Don't forget to add the necessary supporting documents, for example a medical certificate or death/birth certificate, as well as a DUO notice showing that you were still entitled to months of performance-based scholarship at the time of the study delay.

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, as you must be registered as a full-time student at UM at the time of payment.

Have you experienced study delays due to force majeure in the 2022-2023 academic year? Download the UM Profileringsfonds application form 2022-2023 here.

Should you be study delayed in the 2023-2024 academic year and wish to deregister before the end of the academic year, or if you are pregnant and giving birth; submit your application as soon as possible. You do not have to wait until the end of the academic year in these cases.

Note: Less stringent conditions apply for financial support for study delay due to special circumstances in academic year 2023-2024. For example, international students without a study grant from DUO may also be eligible for financial support for study delay due to force majeure. For the new rules, see PART I and PART II of the Profileringsfonds Regulation applicable from 2023-2024.
 

Download the UM Profileringsfonds application form 2023-2024.

The Director of Student Services Centre will decide on your application after advice from the student dean. In case of a positive decision, the financial support amounts to €320 per established month (5 ECTS) of study delay incurred in academic year 2022-2023.

Depending on the nature (only in the case of medical circumstances) and the duration leading to substantial study delay of the special circumstance that led to study delay, the Director SSC is obliged to refer to DUO for a request for performance-related bursary extension. In that case, instead of financial support from the UM Profileringsfonds, the student dean will support a request for a 12-month performance-related bursary extension via DUO.

Your Profileringsfonds application will be rejected if you do not meet the general conditions for eligibility for financial support from the UM Profileringsfonds, or, for example, because the causal link between study delay and special circumstance is not plausible, or the study delay amounts to less than 5 ECTS.

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