The Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS) is a tuition award for master’s students from outside the European Economic Area. It is not a full scholarship: Leiden states that it does not cover the full cost of your studies and that living costs are not included. What it does is lower the tuition fee of your programme by one of five amounts, €10,000, €15,000, €17,500, €18,500 or €19,000, depending on the award level the faculty assigns.
Who can apply: you must hold a non-EEA/non-EFTA passport (exceptions exist for the Advanced LLM and the MSc International Relations), be among the top 10% of graduates in your previous study programme, and be applying for a full-time Leiden master’s degree programme starting in September 2027. The non-advanced LLM and the MSc programmes at Leiden Law School are excluded. The scholarship is only available for the September intake, not for the February 2027 intake.
How to apply: there is no separate scholarship portal. First submit your admission application to the master’s programme. Then go back to the application portal, open the Scholarships section, indicate that you want to be considered for the LExS and upload a motivation letter of at most 500 words as a PDF. If you apply to more than one programme, you must submit a separate scholarship application for each.
Deadline: 1 December 2026. Leiden says late scholarship applications will not be considered, so both the admission application and the scholarship section must be complete by then. Faculty selection committees nominate recipients within ten weeks of the deadline, and every applicant receives an email with the outcome before the end of March 2027.
What this means for your budget: because the award is a fee reduction, you still need to show funds for living costs and any remaining tuition when you apply for a Dutch residence permit. Check the tuition fee of your specific programme on the Leiden site, subtract the award level you might receive, and plan the rest before the December deadline. Questions about the scholarship go to [email protected].