Graduation during the academic year

If you are going to graduate it is important that you follow the graduation procedure of your programme. See the ‘graduation’ page of your own programme for a detailed overview of the graduation procedure. The Board of Examiners of your programme determines when you have graduated and what your graduation date (on the diploma) will be.

In most cases, you will receive an email from the Board of Examiners of your faculty when you have (nearly) met the criteria to graduate. Please review your student email regularly. This is not the case for the Humanities faculty. Please see the graduation page of your programme for the exact procedure when your programme is part of the Humanities faculty.

On the page of your programme you can find among other things the contact details of the Board of Examiners.

The diploma will be awarded to you during a graduation ceremony of your programme or can be collected at the student desk of your faculty. Your faculty will inform you about the exact procedure and the relevant dates via email.

Please note that an active enrolment via Studielink is not needed to attend the graduation ceremony.

Utrecht University will not automatically deregister you after graduation. A deregistration request has to be made by you via Studielink. For a complete overview of the procedure please click here

Deregistering before the graduation file has been completed can lead to issues with your graduation. Please always follow the graduation procedure of your programme to prevent deregistering too early.

You have the right to remain enrolled at the university after graduation. The enrolment will then automatically expire at the end of the academic year. Tuition fees will have to be paid for the duration of the enrolment.

Tuition fees will be deducted as long as you are enrolled via Studielink. Utrecht University will not automatically deregister you after graduation. A deregistration request has to be made by you via Studielink.

After deregistration tuition fees only have to be paid for the months of enrolment. You are entitled to a refund of 1/12th of the total tuition fees for that academic year for each month you are no longer enrolled.

Please click here for more detailed information about the deregistration process and the tuition fee refund.

If you are receiving a student grant and/or a travel card from DUO, your entitlement to these ends per the date of termination of your enrolment. Please do not forget to stop your student grant and travel card.

Please also click here for more information.

After you graduate, the IND will give you 3 months after the graduation date or until the expiry date on your card, whichever comes first, to leave the country. This means you will have to leave the country before this date or have applied for another residence permit.

If you hold a residence permit for the purpose of study and terminate your enrolment without graduating, your residence permit becomes void as of the date of termination of enrolment. You will be required to leave the country within 28 days.

If you think about pursuing a career in the Netherlands after graduation, you can apply for an ‘Orientation year’ residence permit. This residence permit gives you the opportunity to find a job within one year after obtaining your degree. In that year, you do not need a work permit to work in the Netherlands. An application for an Orientation year visa must be made by you. The visa department of Utrecht University cannot support you in the application.

After termination of your enrolment, you can still make use of the facilities for which you need a Solis-id for 180 days.