Employers & recruiters Post a job Register

Step-by-step route · Aruba to the Netherlands

Plan the study move, before the move.

Entry, money and everyday life each have their own decision maker and their own deadlines. Put them on one plan.

Sources read 17 October 2026. Rules and windows change: check the authority named.

In short

  • The programme you apply to decides entry.
  • DUO and the Arubalening both involve loans.
  • Arubahuis helps you settle; it does not place interns.

Ask first

These bodies decide. Check with them before you rely on any step.

DUO (official source, opens another site)Arubahuis / DEA (official source, opens another site)

Your timeline

  1. Choose the programme and check entry

    Entry is decided by the programme you apply to. Nuffic's comparisons are a starting point: for example an Aruban HAVO diploma is compared with HAVO and an EPI level 4 diploma with MBO level 4, for checking access to Dutch higher education. Compare HBO and WO routes before you decide.

    Nuffic (official source, opens another site)

  2. Build a funding plan from two loans and a grant

    DUO student finance for Caribbean residents has a basic grant, a supplementary grant (based on parents' income), a loan, a travel product and, for HBO and university, a tuition-fee loan. For MBO 3 and 4, HBO and university the grants become a gift only if you graduate within 10 years; borrowed money is always repaid with interest. The Arubalening is a student loan from Land Aruba, not a grant.

    DUO (official source, opens another site)Arubahuis / DEA (official source, opens another site)

  3. Enrol and register

    You register yourself with a university or university of applied sciences through Studielink. If you will stay in the Netherlands for more than four months you register with the municipality where you live. The Arubahuis page has a step-by-step guide for Caribbean applicants.

    Arubahuis / DEA (official source, opens another site)

  4. Find people to settle with

    Arubahuis gives information and advice, an orientation programme each August, and one mentor for each region. Students with an Arubalening join the orientation automatically; students without one must register by 1 July. SEA lists Caribbean student communities at Dutch institutions. Neither is an internship broker.

    Arubahuis / DEA (official source, opens another site)SEA (institution, opens another site)

Who does what

Who decides what

Sources and checks 4 sources · checked 16 October 2026 · next review 14 January 2027
  1. 1 Nuffic · Aruban diplomas compared with Dutch ones (opens another site) Official · Verified · Read in full, with the primary, vocational and higher education pages.
  2. 2 DUO · Student finance for Caribbean residents (opens another site) Official · Verified · Read in full (the application steps themselves are on a separate DUO page).
  3. 3 DEA · Studia na Hulanda (Arubahuis, Arubalening) (opens another site) Official · Verified · Read in full. Amounts and dates on it change; check the page.
  4. 4 Strategic Education Alliance · Student communities (opens another site) Institution · Verified · Read in full.

Planning guidance only. The authority named on each point decides; rules, fees and deadlines change.

Where to go next

Your next step

How internships work