The ASF Selection Committee, consisting of representatives of the ASF sponsors and an independent chair, considers all the applications and recommends which students should receive a scholarship to the ASF Board.

For your scholarship application to be considered by the ASF Selection Committee, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must have also applied for a place at AUC. Admission to AUC is a separate process. For more information on applications and admissions, see the links in the left-hand menu. Only AUC students can receive an ASF scholarship.
• Your family income has to be below the threshold (see below).

ASF Scholarships are awarded based on merit and financial need. The ASF Selection Committee selects the applicants to be recommended for a scholarship using the following criteria:

• Excellent school results. These are considered to be an indicator of your academic merit. Please note that the ASF Selection Committee will not see your AUC admission application and they will only receive information on your average secondary school grade (GPA). If you want to communicate anything more to the Committee about your school results and academic ability, make sure to include it in your letter of motivation. This space can also be used to explain why you may not have high grades at the moment, but still believe you can perform well at AUC.
• Strong motivation to study liberal arts and sciences at AUC. The ASF Selection Committee will be looking for this in your letter of motivation.
• The ASF Selection Committee is also interested in your extracurricular accomplishments and activities relevant for AUC. Not only your individual accomplishments but also your contributions to the community or society, as well as your (potential) leadership profile and skills. Make sure to write about these in your letter of motivation.
• If you are completing your secondary education in the Netherlands, you are especially encouraged to apply if you will also be the first generation in your family to go to university and/or you have a migration background.
• Financial need. In other words, explain in your letter of motivation why it is important that you receive a scholarship.

Family income threshold

If your family income is above a certain amount, you will not be eligible for an ASF scholarship. You will need to send financial documents about your family income with your scholarship application. Only the total amount of your family income will be revealed to the Selection Committee members, and only to them. They will not see your financial documents, these will be used strictly internally and only to verify the information you have provided.

• If you are Dutch and/or eligible for Dutch student finance (studiefinancering) then your family income is measured by your eligibility for the additional grant (aanvullende beurs) from DUO. In order to be eligible for an ASF scholarship, you must receive or be eligible for the maximum additional grant (maximum aanvullende beurs).
• If you are not Dutch and not eligible for Dutch student finance (studiefinancering), then you need to calculate the total annual income before tax deductions of both your parents/guardians, including non-taxable income such as benefits or pensions. This total needs to be below EUR 54,000 for you to be eligible for an ASF scholarship.

ASF Scholarships will only be awarded to the selected students who meet the following requirements. If you fail to meet the following requirements, you cannot receive the scholarship.

• An ASF Scholarship awardee must be fully admitted to Amsterdam University College. The ASF Scholarship cannot be transferred to another academic year or another academic programme.
• An ASF Scholarship awardee must have satisfied all visa and residence permit requirements, if applicable.
• An ASF Scholarship awardee must have proven both merit and financial need.
• An ASF Scholarship awardee may not receive another full coverage scholarship for the same period of study as the ASF Scholarship. If you are awarded another scholarship, you must contact the AUC Scholarship Fund (see link below) with the details, so that it can be assessed if you will need to choose between that scholarship or the ASF scholarship, or if you can receive both.

ASF Scholarships are paid directly to the students in 10 instalments per year (no payments in July and August). Students are responsible for paying their AUC tuition fee themselves; the Scholarship Fund does not pay their tuition fees for them.

We have high expectations of ASF Scholarship holders. You will be expected to maintain good academic standing throughout your AUC studies, with good grades and no credit deficit, or you could risk losing your scholarship. You will be evaluated after one year of study at AUC, and your ASF Scholarship will be awarded automatically for another year if you:

• have successfully passed your first year (positive BSA decision or dispensation)
• are maintaining a GPA of at least 7.0 or above (and preferably with a GPA ≥ 8.0 )¹
• can prove that the financial need base has not changed.

If you are not meeting one or more of these requirements, you will be offered an opportunity to submit a motivated request for renewal. Your AUC tutor will be contacted, and their advice/recommendation sought, before a decision on renewal is taken. No renewal is possible in case of a negative BSA decision.

At the end of your second year you will be evaluated similarly, and your ASF Scholarship will be awarded automatically for another year if you:

• are on track to graduate within three years/six semesters in total
• are maintaining a GPA of at least 7.0 or above (and preferably with a GPA ≥ 8.0 )¹
• can prove that the financial need base has not changed

If you are not meeting one or more of these requirements, you will be offered an opportunity to submit a motivated request for renewal. Your AUC tutor will be contacted, and their advice/recommendation sought, before a decision on renewal is taken.

ASF Scholarships are not, in principle, awarded for more than three years/six semesters in total. If you do not graduate within three years, you will be offered an opportunity to submit a motivated request for an extension of your scholarship for a seventh semester or longer, but there is no guarantee that this can be granted. Your AUC tutor will be contacted, and their advice/recommendation sought, before a decision on extension is taken.

If you are receiving an ASF Scholarship and you decide to, or have to, end your studies at AUC without graduating, your ASF Scholarship will be terminated. You will be expected to reimburse the AUC Scholarship Fund in full for all the ASF Scholarship payments you have already received.

ASF Scholarship holders are important ambassadors for AUC and the Scholarship Fund. They are expected to participate in activities with AUC sponsors and other AUC contacts, including the AUC alumni network, and to cooperate in the promotion of the ASF. If you unreasonably refuse to participate in such activities, this will put continuation of your ASF Scholarship at risk.

^{1 For students who started prior to academic year 2022-2023, this would be a GPA of at least 3.0 and preferably with a GPA ≥ 3.5.}