When planning for your studies at university, you must take the necessary costs into account. Experience shows that living and studying in the Netherlands for one year costs a student between €1,000 and €2,000 per month. Some students manage to spend less, but this depends on your own lifestyle.
If you have an EU/EEA or Swiss passport, then you are permitted to work in the Netherlands without limitation.
If you are a non-EU/EEA student, you are only permitted to work a maximum of 16 hours per week averaged throughout the year or else full-time during the summer months of June, July, and August. Your employer must apply for a work permit.
Under Dutch law, everyone who works in the Netherlands is obliged to pay income tax to the Dutch government. However, the rules may be different if you are already paying income tax in your home country and that country has signed a treaty with the Netherlands that income tax is only to be paid in one of the two countries. All EU member states have signed such a treaty.
What does the Dutch government do for international students working in the Netherlands?
The Dutch government has a comprehensive system of social security, insurance, and tax measures related to working in the Netherlands.
More information can be found on the Nuffic website Working While Studying. There is also a factsheet on international students and part-time jobs.
VU Amsterdam regularly posts student vacancies on their job platform:
Tips:
You can work on a self-employed basis as an international student. Keep in mind that if you’re a non-EU/EEA student you are still bound to the restrictions stated by your residence permit. You will not need a work permit. For more information:
For international students, volunteering is a great way to get involved in Dutch life, make new connections, CV building and grow your abilities. Just keep in mind that there are some practical points to consider. This video will take you through the essentials.
You may be interested in doing an internship as part of your degree. Please note that there are quite a few variables determining your options.
For some studies, an internship or graduation project is a compulsory part of the programme. Check the Study Guide to see whether this is the case for your study programme.
Reversely, for some some study programmes do not allow you to do an internship in your elective space. An internship is sometimes only possible as a graduation project.
In most cases it will be up to you to find a suitable internship. However, some studies have fixed internships that you can choose from.
Many programmes/faculties have their own internship coordinator who you can turn to for advice.
We know that increasingly, students are preparing for their career early on in their academic career. To help you with this, we will share some tips below per stage of your studies
1. Orientation & study choice phase
Look at info on the specific programme page for your studies, and click on the “ Future” tab for information on career possibilities.
You can also look up relevant statistics on your programme/faculty of choice in the National Alumni Survey.
2. During your studies
3. Nearing graduation
For those of you for whom graduation is nearing, we have collected the most relevant information in one Career Guide.
Moreover, below you will find some job search platforms:
After graduation you are an alumnus of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. And together with over 150,000 other former students, part of a diverse and global alumni network.
Dive into the VU alumni community and what it has to offer for you.
At VU Amsterdam, we have two types of PhD candidates:
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