The Tilburg-based company MyStudentFinance (MSF) helps mainly international students apply for student grants from student finance provider DUO. “No cure, no pay,” the agency advertises on its website. It also promises: “Receive up to 1,300 euros per month.”

But internationals complain that they end up paying far more than they expected. The company takes a share from the first payment from DUO, which is often higher than internationals anticipate.

Unexpected loan

“I only wanted to apply for a basic student grant of three hundred euros,” says Finnish student John Nordberg, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Leiden. He expected MyStudentFinance to cost him between 100 and 200 euros. In his case, however, the bill came to 870 euros, because the company arranged the maximum student loan for him without being asked.

When he complained about this, MyStudentFinance emailed back saying: you didn’t say that you didn’t want a loan. The company also referred to its terms and conditions, which state that the agency represents students “when applying for grants and loans from DUO.”

Authorization

Students authorize MyStudentFinance to use their DigiD and must provide all kinds of information about their employment and their parents’ income. MSF then applies for the student grant from DUO. The company charges a fee of 59.99 percent of the first payment.

There’s a catch, DUO warns. Because students only apply for their student grant after they have already arrived in the Netherlands, they often receive “three or four months” of student grant payments at once the first time, a spokesperson says. And MyStudentFinance withholds 60 percent of that total amount.

If students indeed receive 1,300 euros per month in (supplementary) grants and loans, the first payment could amount to around five thousand euros. Sixty percent of that is 3,000 euros. After MyStudentFinance has taken its share, students can take over the MijnDUO account.

Distressing

According to the Public Prosecution Service, what the company is doing is not illegal: “It may be morally reprehensible, but it is not a criminal offense.” Students consider it misleading. “I’m really surprised that all of this is legally allowed,” says Sarah Evink of student organization ISO.

ISO has already received several complaints about the company, says Evink. “It’s distressing to hear that students are spending money on information they could simply get for free from DUO.”

She hopes politicians will ban these kinds of business practices. But that will not be easy: you are always allowed to hire someone to provide a service, especially if the terms and conditions state what the costs are.

Bank raised the alarm

Last year, a bank contacted DUO to ask why so much money was being transferred to the bank accounts of a single company. When DUO investigated the matter, it turned out that the student grants of 350 internationals had been paid into around 70 bank accounts.

“By using so many different bank accounts, the company stayed under our radar,” says the DUO spokesperson..

Sneaky

Students who have already started the process must complete the application. Otherwise, MyStudentFinance may charge hundreds of euros in costs. Early in the process, the agency also sends students a PDF with information: The Definitive Guide to Dutch Student Finance. If students withdraw during the process, they suddenly have to pay 200 euros for it.

“It’s also my fault that I didn’t read the fine print carefully,” Nordberg says several times. “But I thought this was a well-intentioned company helping students. But this is sneaky. This wasn’t help. They fooled me.”

“Arrange it yourself in an hour”

DUO is exploring with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) whether student grants could be paid only to the student’s own bank account. At the moment, that is not possible, and there are good reasons for this: for example, students with a financial guardian would no longer be able to receive student grants.

DUO is asking universities and universities of applied sciences to properly inform their international students. Information about student grants is always free, the spokesperson emphasizes. “Internationals can also arrange this themselves in an hour.”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.