Scholarship GuidesThe Maastricht NL-High Potential Scholarship 2027 funds 18 students from outside the EU/EEA to complete a full master's degree at Maastricht University. It pays tuition, visa costs, insurance and a living allowance, and the application window closes on 1 February 2027.
It is one of the few Dutch awards that covers an entire degree rather than discounting the first year. That is also why it is hard to win: Maastricht puts the selection rate at roughly 2 per cent of applicants.
Maastricht NL-High Potential Scholarship: What It Actually Pays
The award is built in three parts. Tuition and the Pre-Academic Training fee are paid directly to the university by the Maastricht International Services Desk, so you never handle that money. Your visa and residence permit costs are covered on the same basis. Health and liability insurance is covered at a fixed EUR 700.
The living allowance is the part that makes the scholarship fully funded. Maastricht publishes it as EUR 20,150 for a 13-month master and EUR 38,750 for a 25-month master, paid monthly.
| What is covered | Amount or basis |
|---|---|
| Tuition fee | Paid in full to the university |
| Living allowance | EUR 20,150 (13 months) / EUR 38,750 (25 months) |
| Health and liability insurance | EUR 700 |
| Visa and residence permit | Paid at cost |
| Pre-Academic Training | Paid at cost, two weeks |
Two conditions come attached to that money. The first is a mandatory two-week Pre-Academic Training that starts in the first week of August 2027. The second is housing: Maastricht allocates you a room and you must accept it, running until 16 July 2028. Declining the room cancels the scholarship. Two-year students arrange their own second-year housing.
Eligibility and the 2027 Timeline
Eligibility turns on nationality, age and grades. You must hold only a non-EU/EEA nationality, with no dual EU/EEA or Swiss nationality. You must be 35 or under on 1 September 2027. You must not have previously studied for a degree in the Netherlands. And you may submit one application for one programme only.
Three dates control the whole process:
- 10 December 2026 - your complete admission file must be submitted. A late admission application means no scholarship application, whatever your grades.
- 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027, 23:59 CET - the scholarship application itself is open. This is a separate form from admission.
- Early May 2027 - selected, waitlisted and rejected applicants are notified.
The grade requirement is a GPA of 7.5 out of 10, stated by Maastricht as equivalent to 75 per cent or a 3 out of 4. On a Pakistani four-year transcript that usually means a first division with a clear margin, so check your percentage against 75 before you spend money on document attestation.
The practical order is admission first, scholarship second. Nothing in the scholarship form helps you if the admission file missed 10 December, so work backwards from that date rather than from February.
Email contact for the programme is hhp.scholarship@maastrichtuniversity.nl, and the full 2027-2028 participating programme list is published as a PDF on the scholarship page. Confirm your programme is on it before applying.
What To Do Now
Start with the programme list and your transcript. If your percentage sits near 75, request a graded transcript now rather than in December, because conversion questions take weeks to resolve between universities.
Then build the admission file around 10 December. That is the real deadline; 1 February only matters once admission is in. Read our scholarships for pakistani students to study abroad 2026 guide for how this award sits against Chevening and HEC, and our proof of funds study abroad pakistan 2026 guide for the bank statement format you will need later.
If Maastricht is not your only target, our netherlands scholarships for pakistani students page lists the other Dutch routes, including the EUR 5,000 NL Scholarship that funds a much wider set of institutions. The full country process, from Studielink to the visa appointment in Islamabad, is in our study in netherlands from pakistan 2027 guide.
How Selection Works After 1 February
Submitting the form does not end the process. Maastricht assesses scholarship applications against the admission file, and because only 18 places exist, academic record carries most of the weight. Programmes are ranked separately, so a strong profile in a less oversubscribed subject is a different proposition from the same profile in a heavily applied one.
Some applicants are asked for a short interview or an online conversation with the programme. Treat it as a genuine selection step rather than a formality: be ready to explain why Maastricht specifically, what you intend to do with the degree afterwards, and how the two-week Pre-Academic Training fits your plan.
Waiting lists are real. If you are waitlisted in early May 2027, keep the list open rather than assuming rejection, because funded applicants decline places when another award comes through. Reply to the notification quickly and confirm in writing that you still want the place, since a waitlist offer usually carries a short acceptance window.
Two-year students face a second housing decision at the end of year one. The allocated room runs until 16 July 2028, and after that you arrange your own. Start looking months earlier: Maastricht is a small city with a genuine shortage of rooms, and students who leave it until June often find themselves commuting from another town.
Common Reasons Applicants Are Not Selected
The first is applying to a programme that is not on the participating list. The list is published as a PDF for each intake and changes between years, so a programme that qualified last year may not qualify this one.
The second is a grade transcript that does not clearly show the 75 per cent equivalent. If your university awards a CGPA rather than a percentage, get a percentage stated on the transcript or in a signed letter from the registrar before you apply. Ambiguity is resolved against the applicant, because the committee cannot estimate your record for you.
The third is missing the 10 December admission deadline while meeting the 1 February scholarship deadline. The scholarship form will accept the submission and the application will still fail, because eligibility is assessed against a complete admission file.
The fourth is treating the room condition as negotiable. It is not. Accepting the scholarship means accepting the allocated room for the stated period, and declining it cancels the award. If you have a family situation that makes that impossible, ask the scholarship office before you apply rather than after you are offered the place.
Read the full regulations on the official scholarship page before you start, and use netherlands scholarships for pakistani students to see the other Dutch routes in the same cycle.
The official terms, including the room condition and the participating programmes, are on the Maastricht University scholarship page. Read the regulations PDF there rather than a summary, because the room and training conditions are what most applicants miss.
