Central government grant

The first stream of income is a lump sum provided to universities by the government for their teaching and research activities. The funding assigned in the budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to academic education – what is termed the macro framework – comprises a sum for teaching and a sum for research. A certain part of the funding is assigned to the universities for a specific purpose and/or through a specific formula, but most of it is distributed to the universities according to an allocation model. Together this funding represents the central government grant that each university receives.

How much do universities receive?

A national allocation model determines the grant that universities receive from the government. Three factors determine how this is calculated:

1. Teaching allowance

The teaching allowance as specified in the national allocation model can be broken down into the following:

• An amount per funded student enrolled. The University receives a figure for each funded student who enrols. The following students are not funded:
  • Students who have already followed higher education at Leiden University or elsewhere for the nominal number of years.
  • Students who are following a second programme of study.
  • Students who are enrolled at another Dutch university or university of applied sciences. This is termed secondary enrolment.
  • Incoming exchange students.
  • Students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who only pay the institutional tuition fee.
  • Pre-master’s students.
• An amount per funded bachelor’s and master’s degree awarded
• A fixed amount

2. Research allowance

The research allowance as specified in the national allocation model can be broken down into the following:

• A sum based on the number of degrees awarded.

  Degrees are considered a significant indicator of whether the teaching and research are interwoven. A higher sum is allocated for master’s degrees than for bachelor’ s degrees.

• A sum based on the number of PhDs awarded.

  The number of PhDs is considered a significant indicator of the research performance of a university.

• A fixed amount

  This is a fixed amount that is not based on performance.

3. Performance-based allowance

This part of government funding is based on performance, and is associated with teaching quality, student success, teaching intensification, positioning and specialisation.

Three levels of funding

The amount of government funding awarded also depends on three different levels:

1. low for arts and social sciences
2. medium for science
3. high for medicine

The number of students enrolled and the number of degrees in each of these levels are multiplied by this factor.