Could anyone please advise which university in the Netherlands has the lowest cost of living. My current budget is for approx 900 per month. Is that realistic?

Also, I see that finding accomodation at some universities in the Netherlands is difficult. Which of the universities would be easiest to find cheap accomodation.

At the moment, I am favouring Maastricht University but haven't yet made any applications.

Hi
A friend of mine completed her masters last year and lived in Amsterdam. Her rent cost her around 800 Euros, I believe she lived in a studio (excluding other expenses such as food and outings). So if you would like to live with big space 900 is good, but you can also rent a room for less. Depends what city you are staying at. Do some research, alot of good information available. And if you know which University you are going to, they usually have an estimate of fees and expenses :)..

Hope that helps

Good luck

Hello G4rry,

I am currently studying in Maastricht, doing Courses of the European Law School (Bachelor). You can find the costs for rooms here: http://www.maastrichthousing.com/ I rented my room over this website and pay about 450 Euro for a single room with shared kitchen, toilet, bathroom and washingroom. My friends, who also rent one of the rooms from maastrichthousing paid quite the same +/- 50 Euro/month. I would recommend you to rent a room via maastrichthousing for the first two months only and then have a look at the blackboards or at the different studentgroups. Public transport is pretty expensice but most people go with their bicycles which will cost you about 100 Euro. Food is pretty cheap, I would say average prices, but I can only compare them to Austrian prices (chickenfilet 1,50, milk 1,00 Euro...). Restaurants are expensive though (tourisit city). I would say the average livingcosts are about 800 Euro.

Thanks all for your much appreciated responses.

GoldenColt, that is precisely the kind of information I was looking for. Coming from Ireland, EUR 450 seems expensive for the kind of room you describe but having viewed www.maastrichthousing.com it seems to be about average.

I am only going for one year (to do the LLM in globalisation most probably). Would you still recommend that I only take a room for 2 months?

Also, I note that maastrichthousing does not seem to have many listings at the moment. Would you expect that there will be more listed come the summer months and I should wait until then to book a room?

Hell G4rry!

You are right, the rooms are quite expensive also if I compare it to what I am used to in Austria. On maastrichthousing there are besides rooms offered by the university also some private rooms from private parties, maybe there are cheaper possibilities. I can not really tell you, if there will be more rooms or if they are booked out yet. If you want to be sure, write them an Email, they will respond quickly!

Hmm, I was here for 6 months and booked the whole 6 months in advance but then I often saw roomoffers on the blackboard in the library and elsewhere. I would not be 100% sure, that you find another room, so if you want to be sure and secure, it is probably better and more comfortable if you book for the whole period of your stay. I would recommend you the Volksplein in Maastricht, it is close to the citiy center (8 min per pedes, 4 per bike). By the way, what are you going to study?

Kind regards,
Lukas

I wrote maastrichthousing.com an e-mail as you suggested, GoldenColt, and they inform me that the amount of available accomodation should go up in June/July as the academic year ends. That's to be expected really but it is good to have the assurance.

It seems to me that the entire area from around the Volksplein and east towards the river would be ideal. Fingers crossed I can get my own room there with all included for 400!

I'm applying for the LLM in Globalisation. I haven't decided yet but it will probably be Globalisation with Economics option. I've always liked the Netherlands and with such low tuition fees it was easily my country of choice. Maastricht University in particular stands out to me for its good repute, close proximity to Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, international focus and selection of courses.

I take it, GoldenColt, you are an exchange student? Vienna would have been a nice option for me if only the tuition fees had not been 10,000!

Good luck to get a cheap room! Yes there are several close rooms offered by the university such as Brouwersweg, Volksplein and the Main Guesthouse.

I think you made a very good choice with Maastricht! Its PBL system offers you a great opportunity not only to improve your knowledge but also to enhace your arguing skills!

It is a lot to do, but you will be fine if you are not lazy and always prepare for the tutorials!

Best advice is to buy a bike. It could save 20 a week compared with public transport. Also, watch out for utility bills, heating in particular can get very expensive.