Orange Tulip Scholarship: Studying in the Netherlands for Indonesian Students

What the Orange Tulip Scholarship is

The Orange Tulip Scholarship (OTS) is a Netherlands scholarship program reserved for Indonesian students only. It is coordinated by Nuffic through its Netherlands Education Support Office (Neso) in Indonesia, and funded by a combination of Dutch higher education institutions, Dutch companies, and Indonesian government partners.

OTS is not a single scholarship with one pool of money and one deadline. Each participating Dutch institution runs its own OTS round for Indonesian applicants, decides its own award amount, and sets its own application window. This means your actual discount and deadline depend entirely on which university and program you choose.

Who can apply

You qualify for OTS only if you hold Indonesian citizenship and are applying to, or already in the process of being admitted to, a full-time bachelor's, master's or foundation program at a Dutch institution that participates in that year's OTS round. You cannot already be living or working in the Netherlands when you submit your application.

Beyond citizenship and admission status, each participating institution adds its own criteria, commonly academic transcripts above a set grade average, a personal statement or motivation letter, and proof of English proficiency through IELTS or TOEFL where the program is taught in English.

What the scholarship covers

Because every participating institution funds and structures its own OTS award, the value ranges from a partial tuition fee reduction to, at some institutions, a much larger tuition discount. There is no fixed amount that applies across all Dutch universities, so check the specific award value listed on your target institution's own OTS page before you plan your budget.

Which institutions take part

The list of participating institutions changes from year to year because each one opts in separately. Universities that have run OTS rounds for Indonesian students in past cycles include research universities such as Maastricht University and Tilburg University, and universities of applied sciences such as Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences. Confirm the current year's participant list directly on the Neso Indonesia website before you shortlist programs, since a university on last year's list may not repeat this year, new institutions may join, and each one publishes its own separate OTS page rather than a shared central listing.

Orange Tulip compared to LPDP and Holland Scholarship

OTS is worth comparing against your other funding options rather than treated as a stand-alone plan. LPDP, the Indonesian government's own overseas scholarship, is a separate program run by your home government and follows its own eligibility rules and bond terms, so check LPDP's official page directly rather than assuming its terms match OTS. Holland Scholarship is a separate Dutch government award open to a wider set of non-EEA nationalities including Indonesians, and it runs on its own application track through Nuffic rather than through the Indonesia-only OTS round. Because these three programs run through different applications and different deadlines, you can research all three in parallel rather than picking one exclusively, though most funders will not let you stack two full awards on the same tuition bill.

How to apply

1. Get admitted, or start your admission application, to a full-time bachelor's, master's or foundation program at a Dutch institution running an OTS round that year.

2. Check that institution's own OTS page for its specific deadline, required documents and award value.

3. Prepare your application file: academic transcripts, motivation letter, English test scores, and any institution-specific forms.

4. Submit your OTS application directly through the process each institution publishes, since some run it through their own admissions portal and others coordinate through Neso Indonesia.

5. Wait for the institution's selection outcome, which is announced after its stated deadline closes.

Because deadlines are spread across the year by institution, start checking your target universities' OTS pages six to nine months before your intended intake so you do not miss a February or March cutoff.

Planning your timeline

Most OTS rounds for a given intake open their applications several months ahead of the semester start, with deadlines clustering between February and May. If you are targeting a September intake, begin researching participating institutions and their OTS terms from the preceding autumn, since some universities close their scholarship round well before their general admission deadline.

Budgeting for costs OTS does not cover

An OTS award reduces or removes tuition at your participating institution, but you still budget separately for a Dutch residence permit application, health insurance, housing, and living costs for the length of your program. Build these into your financial plan alongside your scholarship application, since a Dutch student visa and residence permit application asks you to show proof of funds covering costs OTS itself does not pay for.

Common mistakes to avoid

Applicants most often lose out on OTS by treating it as a single national scholarship rather than a per-institution one, and missing an individual university's earlier internal deadline while tracking only a general Netherlands intake date. Confirm your target institution's specific OTS deadline the moment you shortlist it, and keep your transcripts, English test scores and motivation letter ready well before that date rather than starting document collection after you already have an admission offer.