Students are furious and higher education institutions also think the slow-progress penalty is a bad plan by the new government. But for the moment, this doesn’t seem to bother coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB.

The bill isn’t here yet, but its outlines can be inferred from the announced cutbacks and comments by the four coalition parties. 

What’s the slow-progress penalty again?

The government wants to add three thousand euros to the tuition fees for students who take longer than one year extra to finish their degree. By that time, the regular tuition fees will be around 2,600 euros per year, which would then become 5,600 euros.

What does ‘longer than one year extra’ mean?

The penalty will, for example, apply to third-year students in a one-year Master’s programme, but also sixth-year Bachelor’s students at a university of applied sciences and fifth-year Bachelor’s students at a research university.

I’ve been studying for a few years already, so how was I supposed to see this coming? If I had, I might have worked less and borrowed more.

Be that as it may, the measure also applies to current students. The government’s austerity measure is scheduled to take effect in September 2026.

How many students will get the penalty?

The government wants to save 285 million euros, which translates to 95 thousand slow-progress penalties. You pay tuition each month, so if you graduate halfway through the year, you will – in principle – pay half the penalty.

I switched study programmes twice, but I’m on schedule now. Will I still get a slow-progress penalty?

Yes, probably. A delay is a delay, even if it’s due to picking the wrong programme.

Can’t they make an exception?

There will certainly be exceptions, but don’t count on anything. It’s not yet clear who will dodge this bullet and – not entirely unimportant – who will get to determine this. Last week, coalition party NSC said that serving on a student committee for a year and ‘personal circumstances’ are possible reasons to take longer to complete a study programme, but this doesn’t apply to ‘switching programmes’. 

I’m studying flexibly: I progress through the programme at my own pace and pay per credit. Will I now have to hurry all of a sudden?

This will be tricky. All kinds of parties want to make higher education more flexible, so students can choose their own pace, but what happens when they make use of this option and actually take longer to finish their studies? That remains to be seen. By the way, the same goes for part-time students.

The mental health of young people is already in such a bad state and now the slow-progress penalty is being piled on top!

NSC, for example, doesn’t see it like that. It’s simply to be an ‘incentive’ not to take way too long to complete your programme. VVD said something similar before the summer holiday: it’s not a fine, but a higher personal contribution. The opposition begs to differ: they see the pressure on students increasing.

Will this plan make it through the Senate and House of Representatives without any problems?

That’s very much the question. The coalition may have a majority in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate. NSC doesn’t hold any seats there. BBB, VVD and PVV jointly occupy 29 out of 75 seats. This means the coalition needs another nine votes in the Senate. 

Who will provide those votes?

50Plus and the regional political parties (OPNL) have one seat each. The government may be able to persuade them. JA21, SGP and Forum voor Democratie (FvD) have seven seats between them, which would bring the total to nine. But FvD seems to be opposed to the penalty, having supported a motion in the House of Representatives that calls it a ‘terrible idea’.

And will students protest?

Of course they will. The next protest has already been announced: Friday 18 October at 12 noon in the park opposite Den Haag Centraal railway station.

Aren’t there any young people amongst the constituents of the coalition parties?

Yes, and they’re not happy. Both the political youth branches of VVD and NSC are against the slow-progress penalty. The BBB youth branch didn’t say anything when the four parties concluded the outline agreement. The PVV voters also included many young people, but they don’t have their own club, because the PVV isn’t a membership party.