Financing your Studies in Belgium

Belgium’s higher education system

Belgium has no single higher education system. Three language communities run their own, each with its own education ministry and legislation: the Flemish (Dutch-speaking), the French-speaking (Wallonia, with three German-speaking cantons) and the German-speaking community. Brussels is officially bilingual (French and Dutch). The Flemish and French communities are the two most active in running higher education. Around 297,000 students attend the Wallonia Hautes Ecoles, the Wallonia universities, and the Flemish universities and college institutions. The main owners and administrators are the publicly funded universities and colleges and the Catholic church, in both the Flemish and French communities.

Belgian higher education follows the Bologna Process and is structured in three cycles: bachelor, master and doctorate. Only universities award PhDs. One ECTS credit stands for 25 to 30 hours of study. The French community distinguishes short-cycle programmes (type court, vocational bachelors of 3 to 4 years) from long-cycle programmes (bachelor plus master, the academic path).

Almost half of the universities offer comprehensive courses in philosophy, letters, social sciences, economics, law, the natural sciences and medicine.

Types of institution

• In Flanders: universities plus university colleges (hogescholen).
• In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation: four types - universities, Hautes Ecoles, schools of arts, and continuing education.
• In the German-speaking community: a single non-university higher education institution.

KU Leuven, founded in 1425, is the oldest university in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1970 it split into the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-speaking Universite Catholique de Louvain; UCLouvain is Belgium’s largest French-speaking university. A Flemish reform in 1995-96 upgraded the hogescholen curriculum to university-equivalent standard and merged 136 institutions of higher learning into 29 additional hogescholen. Teaching is in Dutch, French, German or English, and Flemish universities offer more English-language masters, though availability depends on the programme.

Bachelor’s degree

• An applicant who meets the entry qualifications can take a full-time bachelor’s course, typically 3 years (180 ECTS) and in some cases up to 4 years.
• Bachelors are awarded across the full range of arts and science subjects, to both local and international students.

Master’s degree

• After the bachelor’s, a student can move on to a master’s degree.
• A master’s takes 1 to 2 years (60 or 120 ECTS), in any science or arts programme the student chooses.
• Both local and international students compete for it.

Doctorate degree

• The doctorate sits at the top of the academic world and is the award the best students aim for.
• Only universities grant it. In Flanders it takes around 4 years; in Wallonia 4 to 6 years.
• It is awarded to local and international students alike.
• In the Flemish community, doctoral research leads to degrees across fields from economics, law, political and social sciences to history, philosophy and linguistics.

Recently added funding for your studies in Belgium

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Cost of studies

Tuition fees

Belgian tuition fees are among the lowest in Western Europe, thanks to generous government subsidies. The three communities set their own fees, so the figures differ.

In the French community, fees are controlled by the community government. For 2025/26 the regulated rate is around €835 per year. From 2026/27 the French community introduces four rates: €0 for grant holders (boursier), €374 for a modest-means condition, €835 for an intermediate condition, and a full rate of €1,194. The full rate rise from €835 to €1,194 has been decided at ULB but still awaits federation-wide approval. There are differences between fees charged by universities and by non-university institutions, and students pay additional course-specific fees, but the level is strictly controlled.

In the Flemish community, EU/EEA students pay around €1,157 per year for 2025/26; KU Leuven charges €1,181.40 for a full 60-credit year. Over a whole bachelor’s an EU student pays roughly €2,500 to €3,500 in tuition.

Non-EU students pay far more. In Flanders the institutional fee runs from €2,300 to €9,500 per year across most programmes, and Flemish schools of arts charge €8,800 to €25,000. KU Leuven’s non-EEA fees are €3,093.12, €5,613.12 or €9,493.92 depending on the programme. In the French community non-EU students pay around €5,369 per year, made up of the standard fee plus a €4,175 surcharge (droit d’inscription specifique). Across Belgium, bachelor tuition for non-EU students runs roughly €3,000 to €7,000 per year, and the overall fee range is €800 to €6,000 depending on EU/non-EU status and subject.

Cost of living

Living costs in Belgium are close to the rest of the developed world, but the savings on tuition make student life easier to manage. Cities cost more than rural areas, with Brussels, Leuven and Ghent at the upper end. International students spend around €1,236 per month on average, covering accommodation, materials, food, transport, health insurance and leisure. Accommodation runs €635 to €1,200, a one-bedroom flat €771 to €858, food €250 to €400, a monthly public transport pass €20 to €50, and student health insurance €8 to €10 per month.

Non-EU students need to prove sufficient means to get a residence permit: €835 per month for 2025/26, rising to €1,062 per month for 2026/27.

Funding for a semester or year abroad

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Financing your studies

Public support

As with everything else, public funding for studies splits across the three communities.

In the French community, public grants (allocations d’etudes) go to students on low incomes under 35. They are income-dependent: for 2026/27 the minimum is €343.20 and the full grant is €5,311.19 (with a rented room, or kot) or €3,187.74 (living in the parental home). You apply by 31 October 2026, and in certain cases up to 31 January 2027.

In the German community, student grants are proportionate to need, paid through the social security system, and run between €362 and €2,469 per year.

In the Flemish community, grants (Vlaamse studietoelage) are needs-related, with eligibility set by parental income and the student’s academic record. For 2026/27 the minimum is €343.20 and the maximum €5,311.19 (with a rented room/kot), or up to €3,187.74 when living in the parental home. Two new conditions apply from the 2026/27 academic year: full-time study of at least 54 study points, and being under 30 on 31 December of the year the course starts. Anyone born in 1996 or earlier is therefore no longer eligible for 2026/27. A review request is possible until 31 December 2027, or within six months of new facts coming to light.

Families also receive allowances to top up low incomes. In the French community the allowance is €88 a month, varying with the number of children. To qualify, a student must not take paid work except during the summer, and then no more than 240 hours per quarter. The allowance normally goes to the mother, or to whoever actually supports the student. The same conditions apply in the German and Flemish communities. Regional family allowance base amounts for 2026 are €196.57 in Wallonia, €184.62 in Flanders and €190.23 to €215.59 in Brussels depending on age; the FAMIRIS rate in Brussels for higher education students aged 18 to 24 is €215.59 per month.

Families also benefit from generous tax concessions, with amounts differing by community. In the French community, the non-taxable income threshold rises with each dependent child: €1,400 for one child, €3,590 for the second, €8,050 for the third, €13,020 for the fourth, with €4,970 added for each further child. The tax benefits in the other two communities are just as generous.

Scholarships

The main sponsors of study in Belgium are the public authorities, above all the Flemish and French-speaking authorities such as the Flemish Department of Education. Universities also offer their own grants and scholarships. Internationally, several UN agencies help fund students, with UNESCO leading, followed by the WHO and the FAO, alongside NATO and the EU, for students pursuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at Belgian institutions.

Named programmes worth knowing:

• Master Mind Scholarship: run by the Flemish education ministry for international master’s students in Flanders and Brussels. It pays €10,225 per year plus exemption from tuition fees; the 2026/27 deadline is 15 January 2026.
• VLIR-UOS: full tuition plus €1,250 per month.
• VLUHR Generic Scholarship (mobility): €700 per month, plus €200 per month for under-represented groups.
• ARES-CCD: funds Walloon master’s programmes.

Erasmus+ supports bachelor, master and doctoral students on study periods of 2 to 12 months per study phase. It covers exemption from tuition fees at the host institution plus support for travel and living costs; the amount varies by country. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters cover 100 % of tuition plus a monthly living allowance, housing and travel grants, and health insurance. Both are programme-level schemes applying across Europe, not Belgium-specific.

Erasmus+ is the standard route for EU students who want to spend part of their studies in Belgium. It funds exchange mobility at a Belgian partner institution, not a full degree, and you must already be enrolled at another European higher education institution. The monthly amount varies by host country and is roughly €250 to €600. You cannot apply for the funding directly: your home institution sets the selection criteria. The programme runs for the 2021-2027 period and is open to all 27 EU member states and associated non-EU countries.

Grants and loans for research and postgraduate study

For students of proven academic accomplishment at postgraduate level, several prestigious grants exist:

• Scientific Research Fund (FNRS) doctoral grants: 2 years, renewable once. The maximum duration is 27 months for the first grant and 21 months for the second. Under the FRESH/FRIA rules for 2026, the first grant can be reduced to 15 months if applied for after one year of doctoral study.
• Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI): grants for exceptionally talented students at doctorate and post-doctorate level, managed by WBI. For 2026/27, long-term grant applications close on 1 February 2026 (departure by 1 October 2026). Short-term grants for September 2026 to February 2027 close on 1 April 2026; those for March to July 2027 close on 1 October 2026.
• AUF grants: funded by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie.
• Belgian Development Agency: grants financing master’s courses of 1 or 2 years, and doctoral grants covering 16 months of research carried out in Belgium.

Grants: availability and conditions

International students can get study finance from the Flemish authorities, but an applicant must meet at least one of these conditions: be resident in Belgium with parents who are EU nationals employed (or formerly employed) in Belgium as employees; hold a permanent residence permit for Belgium; or be the child of a candidate-refugee whose asylum request has been approved.

Grants go to candidates aged between 17 and 35 at the time of the grant. A student is not eligible if they fail at the first attempt, but regains the right to the original grant on passing after that first failure. After two failures, the student must pass two consecutive years in the same subjects to regain the right. Three failures disqualify the student entirely.

Student loans

Loans play a small part in Belgium. In the French community, loans are available to families with at least three dependent children, but few students take them out: the subsidies, grants, family allowances and tax concessions make loans unnecessary and only add repayment burdens. In the German community, students may borrow €1,000 for the first cycle and another €1,500 for the second. Interest runs between 0 and 3 % depending on the student’s income, and the loan must be repaid in full within 3 years of graduation. The Flemish community makes no provision for loans.

Most student loans in Belgium are government-guaranteed. To be eligible you must be admitted to a Belgian institution of higher education, accept the subsidised 2 % interest, and repay according to the stated conditions. International students can also take out an international student loan, provided the university they attend is listed as qualified to receive it.

Student jobs

Special rules apply to students who work while studying. For 2026, students can work up to 650 hours per year at a reduced rate, paying only a 2.71 % solidarity contribution instead of full social charges. From the 651st hour, regular charges of 13.07 % apply; the minimum age is 15. EU, EEA and Swiss students have unrestricted access to the labour market; non-EU students may work up to 20 hours per week during the semester, with a work permit. Students who receive a family allowance face a tighter limit: they may work only during the summer, and no more than 240 hours per quarter.