What must I arrange when stopping or changing a course?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
Handle deregistration, DUO funding, student travel and tuition refunds separately. Stopping attendance does not end them automatically. When changing courses, report the new one before deregistering from the old.
On this page
1. Your situation
Mbo: deregister with the school; hbo/university: Studielink. Obtain written confirmation of the exact date, not necessarily diploma-ceremony day. Keep enrolments, payments and decisions. This concerns ordinary education routes, not private-course cancellation terms.
2. Conditions
Use DUO's change helper and arrange finance in Mijn DUO. Reporting early avoids interruption but does not automatically restart grant months. Bridging may cover at most four months between eligible courses; a previous higher-education course is normally excluded, with special foreign-calendar exceptions. If the new course falls through, stop funding and travel promptly.
3. Preparation
Cancel travel yourself at a collection machine by day ten of the first month without entitlement. Free travel is already prohibited from day one without entitlement. DUO’s 2026 improper-use charges are €96.09 per half calendar month in month one, then €192.21. Keep proof; school deregistration alone is insufficient.
4. Apply
Mbo 1/2 grant/travel is a gift; mbo 3/4/higher education normally needs a diploma within ten years. First-year rules can except this: often stop finance before 1 February and do not resume in the same year; mbo-diploma-to-hbo and February starts differ. Use the official route checker before restarting. Ordinary loans remain repayable and used grant months remain consumed. See separate illness support if relevant.
5. Decision
DUO lesgeld 2026–2027: stopping alone is insufficient. Deregister before 1 May 2027, request by 31 July 2027, plus valid reason: diploma, change to bbl/part-time with statutory course fees, divorce preventing attendance, pregnancy, or serious illness/death in the specified family circle preventing attendance. From ten days after deregistration: Mijn DUO → Direct regelen → Lesgeld → Lesgeld terugvragen, or official form. Illness needs Medische informatie. Reduction depends on month; collections continue to the revised total, excess refunded within two weeks.
6. Next steps
Higher-education statutory tuition: request institution-board/student-administration refund, normally 1/12 per remaining month after deregistration; July/August withdrawal brings no refund for those months under the general rule. Institutional tuition has its own rules. Bbl/part-time-vavo course fees are handled by the school, not DUO, with separate exceptional/diploma calculations. Confirm fee type and obtain an itemised decision. Private-course cancellation is separate.
Does deregistration stop travel and payments?
No. DUO finance and travel require separate action. Refunds must also be assessed by the correct institution.
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Deregistration confirmation
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DUO · Stoppen ↗DUO · Nieuwe opleiding ↗DUO · Eerstejaarsregeling ↗DUO · Lesgeld terug ↗Rijksoverheid · Collegegeld terug ↗Rijksoverheid · Cursusgeld ↗DUO · Studentenreisproduct stopzetten ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.