Tuition

Tuition is regulated separately by Belgium's Flemish Community and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. EU/EEA students pay a government-set base fee (about EUR 1,181 in Flanders, EUR 1,194 in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, with reduced rates as low as EUR 0 for grant holders under a means-tested system). Non-EU students pay markedly more, and amounts vary widely by institution and programme: Flemish universities set their own non-EEA rates per programme (from about EUR 2,300 at Ghent University up to about EUR 9,500 for a standard programme at KU Leuven, and considerably more at some Schools of Arts), while Wallonia-Brussels universities such as UCLouvain and ULB add a fixed EUR 4,175 supplement on top of the base fee for non-exempt non-EU students, bringing the total to about EUR 5,369 per year. Nationals of certain countries and specific student categories (e.g. PhD candidates or scholarship holders) can be exempt from the higher non-EU rate. Figures are subject to annual indexation. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Visa

National long-stay visa (Type D) leading to a student residence permit with limited labour-market access — 20 hours per week during term time (unlimited during official academic holidays). [6] [7]

Applications

Belgium has no single national application portal: each university, and each of the country's two main higher-education systems (the Flemish Community and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), runs its own admissions process and deadlines. As a rule of thumb, non-EU applicants who need a student visa must apply earlier than EU/EEA applicants: at ULB, for example, non-EU applications for 2026-27 ran from mid-February to end of March, while EU/EEA applicants could apply until 30 September. Programmes with a capped number of places for non-resident students ('numerus fixus'), such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, or physiotherapy/speech therapy, have separate, earlier deadlines and a ranking or lottery procedure. Always confirm the exact deadline on the chosen university's own admissions page. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Application portals

Language

Nederlands, Français, Deutsch. Belgium's three national languages are Dutch, French and German, and education is the responsibility of the Flemish, French and German-speaking Communities. Many Belgian schools and universities also offer courses in English, as Belgium.be notes. [13]

Health insurance

Health insurance is compulsory for everyone living in Belgium, including international students. EU/EEA students are generally covered through the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued by their home country. Non-EU students must prove valid health insurance to obtain their student visa and, after arrival, must register with a Belgian health fund (a private 'mutualité/mutualiteit' or the public CAAMI/HZIV fund); students without income pay a fixed contribution of about EUR 78.93 per quarter (2026 rate). This is general information, not individual insurance or legal advice. [14] [6]

Universities

Scholarships

  • VLIR-UOS ICP Connect Scholarships — Belgian government-funded scholarships, administered by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR-UOS), covering full tuition, travel, insurance and living costs for full-time Bachelor's, Master's and Advanced Master's programmes taught in English at Flemish universities and university colleges. [16]
  • ARES Master's and Internship Scholarships — Scholarships from ARES (Académie de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur), the umbrella body for French-speaking higher education, funding around 150 master's scholarships and 70 internship scholarships per year for nationals of partner countries in the Global South at Wallonia-Brussels Federation institutions (e.g. UCLouvain, ULB, ULiège). [17]

Sources

  1. KU Leuven – Tuition fee breakdown 2026-2027 · accessed on ↩
  2. University of Antwerp – Tuition fees 2026-2027 · accessed on ↩
  3. Ghent University – Tuition fee Master's programme 2026-2027 · accessed on ↩
  4. UCLouvain – The amount of tuition fees 2026-2027 · accessed on ↩
  5. ULB – Tuition fees 2026-2027 · accessed on ↩
  6. KU Leuven – Cost of living in Belgium · accessed on ↩
  7. Belgian Immigration Office (IBZ) – Introduced abroad (Visa D) for studies · accessed on ↩
  8. KU Leuven – Specific regulations for non-EEA nationals (working) · accessed on ↩
  9. CAAMI-HZIV – Health insurance for foreign students · accessed on ↩
  10. VLIR-UOS – Scholarships · accessed on ↩
  11. ARES – Académie de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur · accessed on ↩
  12. KU Leuven – Apply · accessed on ↩
  13. University of Antwerp – Admission and enrolment · accessed on ↩
  14. ULB – Submit an application · accessed on ↩
  15. UCLouvain – Enrolment · accessed on ↩
  16. Ghent University – English homepage · accessed on ↩
  17. Coming to study in Belgium - Belgium.be · accessed on ↩