Introduction  
The Netherlands' higher education sector offers a large number of international master's degree programmes. They cover almost every field of study, allowing candidates to receive a postgraduate education and to earn either a Master of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree, or a Professional Master's degree. A Master of Arts or a Master of Science degree is an academic degree, usually awarded by traditional universities on completion of a postgraduate research-oriented course of one to two years in duration. A Professional Master's degree is awarded by different types of institutes of higher education and focuses on more professionally-oriented teaching programmes.
Professional Master's degrees are usually of shorter duration than a research-oriented Master's degree programme.

The duration of the programmes varies between 9 and 24 months. The fellowships, which are granted for the duration of the programme, cover the tuition fees plus the costs of international travel, subsistence, books, and health insurance.

The list of eligible master's degree programmes can be downloaded (as pdf, 315 kB). It should be noted that this list is based on a survey conducted among all potential Dutch providers of international master's degree programmes in early 2005.
Information may be subject to alteration and master's degree programmes might be added to the list well into 2006. The website should be consulted for the latest information.

Eligibility  
An applicant for an NFP fellowship for a master's degree programme must:

• be a national of and working in one of the 57 developing countries on the list;
• have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to one of the master's degree programmes on the course list. This means that the applicant must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;
• have completed an NFP Master's Degree Programme Application Form and have submitted all the required documentation to the Netherlands embassy or consulate;
• be nominated by the employer, who pledges to continue payment of the employee's salary and to hold a job open while the employee is pursuing the Master's degree programme. It may be acceptable if the employer states that at least part of the salary will continue to be paid, and that the organization complies with all the other formal NFP requirements if the fellowships is awarded. It should be realized, however, that NFP allowances are not sufficient to support family members, either in the home country or in the Netherlands;
• provide statements explaining the motivation of both the applicant and the employer;
• not be employed by a large industrial, commercial and/or multinational firm;
• offer evidence of proficiency in speaking and writing the language of instruction. Candidates who have received their education in any language other than English must provide evidence in the form of a score in an internationally recognized test such as IELTS (a score of at least 6.0) or TOEFL (a score of at
  least 550 points on the paper-based test). An exception to this rule is made for candidates who have received their education in the English language, and candidates who have attended a course or programme with a Dutch educational institution before, but no longer than four years ago;
• be available for the entire period of the programme and be physically and mentally able to take part in  the entire programme;
• declare that they will return to their home country immediately after the study programme has ended.

Joint or Double Degree Programmes
A number of master's degree programmes take place, either in whole or in part, in one of the NFP countries, for example as a "joint programme" or as a "joint degree programme". In these cases, the Dutch institution and the partner institution in an NFP country deliver the programme together. NFP fellowships will be available only for participants originating from the NFP country where the course (or part of the course) takes place and for participants originating from a neighbouring country.

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The application and selection procedure  
The application and selection procedure consists of the following steps:

Application for admission at a Dutch educational institution:
1) Applicants first apply for admission to the master's degree programme of their choice. Applications should always be directed to the Dutch provider of the programme. The deadlines for these applications vary.  Applicants are advised to consult the Dutch provider about the application deadline for their chosen programme, and to apply for admission well before the deadline.
2) The provider assesses the application and decides whether or not the applicant's educational background and other experience meet the specific requirements for the programme in question. The provider then informs all applicants of its decisions. Successful candidates will receive a letter indicating that they have been provisionally, but unconditionally admitted. Admission must be unconditional in terms of the candidate's education and language proficiency. Admission may be granted provisionally, subject to the candidate finding suitable funding for the course.

Candidates are eligible for a fellowship only if they have been admitted to their chosen master's degree programme and meet all the criteria. Being admitted to more than one course does not mean that a candidate can apply for more than one fellowship. Candidates will have to select one course before applying for a fellowship.

Application for a fellowship
3) After receiving their letter of admission, candidates may then apply for an NFP fellowship through the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country. Some embassies require applications to be submitted in duplicate. In other countries applications have to be submitted to the embassies through local governmental organizations. Candidates are therefore advised to check any local regulations with the Netherlands embassy in their country.
4) Candidates must complete an NFP Master's Degree Programme Application Form and submit it together with all the required documents and information to the embassy or consulate well before the deadline for applications set by the embassy or consulate. These forms can be obtained from the embassy or consulate and can be downloaded (as pdf, 115 kB).

Candidates should NOT send their fellowship application forms directly to Nuffic or to the Dutch provider, but should forward them to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country.

5. The embassy or consulate checks each application against the criteria listed above. Special attention is given to:

• whether the application was submitted before the deadline;
• whether the candidate has presented a letter of admission to the programme in question;
• whether the information accompanying the application is complete and correct, and whether the required documentation (such as passport, diplomas and language test) is in order;
• whether the programme is on the list of master's degree programmes starting in 2006;
• whether the course has added value for the sustainable capacity development of the employing organization and the development of the NFP country;
• whether the employer has provided a letter endorsing the application and guaranteeing that the candidate's salary will continue to be paid in full or in part during his or her absence and that a job will be held open for him or her;
• whether the candidate can offer proof of a sufficient command of the English language;
• whether the candidate fulfils any other specific requirements set by the embassy or consulate.

Important news about the Embassies. Read more.

6) The embassies and consulates forward the fellowship applications that meet all of the criteria to Nuffic before Nuffic's deadline.
7) Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for each programme. The allocation of fellowships between the various programmes is based on the number of eligible applicants for each programme.
8) The Dutch provider then selects the candidates who will receive fellowships. The provider informs all candidates of its decisions, and applies to Nuffic for a grant.
9) Nuffic awards the grant for the provider to cover the fellowship holders' expenses, including the tuition fees. The provider pays each fellowship holder amonthly allowance for the duration of the master's degree programme.
10)The Dutch providers administer the fellowships, make logistical arrangements, and give guidance to the fellowship holders.

NFP E-learning pilot 
In the future, the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) may also award scholarships for students to follow e-learning programmes leading to a master's degree offered by higher education institutions in the Netherlands. Up to now, e-learning programmes were not included in the NFP course list because the structure of the programmes was incompatible with the current NFP rules. To date, the NFP course list has only included full-time programmes, because NFP scholarship students are expected to be available for full-time study during their stay in the Netherlands (or other place of study). However, e-learning programmes usually only require part-time participation by the student, along with a number of short residential courses where students come together and take part in full-time training, usually lasting a couple of weeks. Another problem was that this type of programme might not provide the opportunities and meet the needs of the NFP's key target group, organizations and their mid-career employees in sub-Saharan Africa. Internet access in these countries is not always widely or easily available and is relatively expensive.

One of the aims of the pilot is to show how much of a problem the issue of Internet access really is. It is expected that the opportunity to study for a master's degree without the need to spend a number of years abroad will in fact appeal to the NFP's mid-career target group. January 2005, has seen the launch of a pilot for two e-learning programmes. A total of four fellowships have been made available for the pilot and have been allocated to the two programmes that are being used for the pilot (both received two fellowships). The programmes are the Global MPA (Master of Public Administration) at the Netherlands School of Public Administration (NSOB), and the Master of Public Health Professions Education at the University of Maastricht. If the pilot proves successful, and if more NFP fellowships will be made available for e-learning programmes in the future, the application, assessment and fellowship award procedure will be the same as with the regular master's degree programmes.

Deadline for applications  
Academic application deadlines
The deadlines for admission to a master's degree programme vary and not all deadlines were known to us when compiling this brochure. If no academic admission deadline is stated in this brochure for your chosen programme, you should contact the Dutch provider directly for further information. It may occur that the provider's deadline for applying for admission to a programme is later than the NFP deadline for fellowship applications. Nevertheless, fellowship applications cannot be taken into consideration without a letter of admission to a master's degree programme.

Fellowship application deadlines
There are two fellowship application deadlines for master's degree courses. One for courses starting in the first quarter of 2006, and one for courses starting in the third quarter of 2006. Please check the list of fellowship application deadlines (download as pdf, 53 kB) for the specific deadline set by the Netherlands embassy or consulate in your country. A letter of admission should be in the candidate's possession well before the embassy's deadline for submitting fellowship applications. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to start the application procedure for admission as early as possible.

There is a good reason why NFP deadlines are scheduled so far in advance. Candidates need time to prepare for a long stay abroad. It takes at least three months to obtain a visa, for example, and other logistical arrangements also take time.

1. The overview of master's degree programmes starting 2006 (as pdf, 119kB)
   
   
2. The list of  master's degree programmes starting in 2006 (as pdf, 315 kB)
   
   
3. Changed, cancelled or added master's degree programmes starting in 2006 (as pdf, 96 kB)
   
   
4. Fellowship application deadlines of Netherlands embassies and consulates for master's degree programmes starting in 2006 (as pdf, 53 kB)
   
   
5. Alphabetical index of institutions, master's degree programmes and short courses (as pdf, 91 kB)