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Early study

Netherlands

Subsidised international schools, if a parent can get a permit of their own.

5/5
ingredients confirmed
Every ingredient this page asks for has a figure and a source.
Tuition
~$10–36k/yr
The spread is the story: the subsidised Dutch International Schools cost a fraction of the independent ones, and which a family can use is the single biggest variable in this number.
Living
80.3% of US prices
A comparison of prices, not a budget: it says what things cost here against the United States, not what a month will cost you. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.
Education
Strong
Guardian visa
No parent route; one parent must qualify alone
Structurally the same position as Germany and Czechia, and scored the same. What separates the Netherlands in practice is that the parent’s permit usually has to be employment, since there is no income-based route either.
Safety
1.566 · 17th of 163
Top twenty globally, and among the calmest places in Europe to be a pedestrian

More is being checked.

Where these figures came from

One row per ingredient. Open any of them for the source, how far we trust it, and when we last checked.

Tuition~$10–36k/yr

Two poles read from the schools’ own 2026/27 fee pages: International School Eindhoven, a Dutch International School, charges €8,569–9,466 at secondary; the International School of Amsterdam charges €30,880–32,755. The figure sits between them.

The spread is the story: the subsidised Dutch International Schools cost a fraction of the independent ones, and which a family can use is the single biggest variable in this number.

Confidence
printed in the source
Living80.3% of US prices

World Bank, 2024, CC BY 4.0: the PPP conversion factor for household consumption is 0.7419 local currency units per international dollar, against an official exchange rate of 0.9239 to the US dollar. Their ratio, 0.803, is the price level against the United States, whose own ratio is 1 by construction. Both figures are theirs; the division is ours. See the Pathoff method, section 12.

A comparison of prices, not a budget: it says what things cost here against the United States, not what a month will cost you. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.

Confidence
made by us from the source
EducationStrong

Pathoff judgement, no rubric yet: placed against the other countries here from general knowledge of the international-school sector. Under review — see the Pathoff method, section 9-3.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Guardian visaNo parent route; one parent must qualify alone

Pathoff outcome rubric (the Pathoff method, section 10-1), early outcome band "A guardian must be arranged": The IND’s own list of residence purposes has no category for a parent accompanying a school-age child; the family route runs the other way, with the child as a dependant of a parent who already holds a permit.

Structurally the same position as Germany and Czechia, and scored the same. What separates the Netherlands in practice is that the parent’s permit usually has to be employment, since there is no income-based route either.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
No change known to us
Last checked
2026-09
Safety1.566 · 17th of 163

Global Peace Index 2026, Institute for Economics and Peace: score 1.566, ranked 17 of 163. Both figures are theirs; we publish them as they are.

Top twenty globally, and among the calmest places in Europe to be a pedestrian

Confidence
printed in the source

What it is like here

The Netherlands runs something almost nowhere else does: a network of state-subsidised international schools charging a third of what the independents charge, in a country where a twelve-year-old can cycle to school safely. The obstacle is at the border, not in the classroom. There is no guardian status here, so the family’s stay rests on one parent qualifying for a work or business permit in their own right.

How the process works

1

A parent secures a permit first

Highly skilled migrant, self-employment or study. The child follows as a family member.

⏱ 2–3 months
2

Apply to schools early

The subsidised Dutch International Schools have waiting lists in Amsterdam and The Hague.

⏱ 3–12 months
3

Register at the municipality

Registration produces the BSN, which every later step needs.

⏱ 1–2 weeks

Where families cluster

Amsterdam / Amstelveen
The widest school choice, and the tightest housing market
The Hague / Wassenaar
Diplomatic and institutional families; strong subsidised schools
Eindhoven
Tech families, cheaper housing, a well-regarded subsidised international school

Open any ingredient above to see where its figure came from, how far we trust it and when we last checked. Nothing here is a substitute for the official source. Last reviewed 2026-09-04.

Photograph of Netherlands by Kaci Baum kacibaum, licensed CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.