Study in Belgium: Admission, Cost, Visa and Scholarships (2027)

Belgium is split, for education, along its language line. The Dutch-speaking Flemish Community runs KU Leuven, Ghent University, the University of Antwerp and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and the French-speaking Community runs UCLouvain and the Universite libre de Bruxelles among others. The practical consequence for an international applicant is that almost all bachelor's degrees are taught in Dutch or French, and English-taught study is overwhelmingly at master's level. Ghent University states that all of its bachelor programmes in Ghent are taught in Dutch, and the University of Antwerp offers only two English-taught bachelor's degrees out of 32. At master's level the choice is wide: Ghent lists 69 English-taught master's programmes and KU Leuven publishes fees for 68.

Fees are set by nationality, not by residence. In Flanders every university starts from the same base for Belgian and EEA students, a fixed EUR 305.40 plus EUR 14.60 a credit, which comes to EUR 1,181.40 for a 60-credit year. Students from outside the EEA pay a higher rate that each university sets itself, and the gap is large. The University of Antwerp charges non-EEA master's students EUR 7,800, VUB between EUR 2,500 and EUR 5,720, Ghent either EUR 2,297.40 or EUR 7,079.40 depending on the faculty, and KU Leuven up to EUR 9,493.92. In the French-speaking Community the structure is different: UCLouvain charges every student the same EUR 1,194 full fee and then adds a supplementary contribution of EUR 4,175 for most non-EU students, EUR 5,369 in all. Several groups of non-EEA students pay the lower rate instead, including holders of a Belgian residence permit of the right type, VLIR-UOS and Master Mind scholarship holders, and at Ghent and VUB students from the least developed countries on the OECD list.

The calendar is early. Belgian universities do not run a single national portal; each takes applications directly, usually from October or November, and closes them for visa-needing applicants in spring so that the visa can be issued before the academic year starts in mid September. KU Leuven's most common non-EEA deadline is 1 March, UCLouvain's and VUB's was 31 March for 2026-27, Ghent's is before 1 April and Antwerp's is 28 February 2027. Application fees differ just as much: Ghent and Antwerp charge nothing, KU Leuven and VUB charge EUR 90 per application, and UCLouvain charges EUR 200, deducted from tuition if the applicant is admitted.

English requirements cluster around CEFR B2. KU Leuven and VUB ask for IELTS 6.5 and TOEFL iBT 79, the University of Antwerp for IELTS 6.5 with 6.0 in each part and TOEFL iBT 80, and Ghent for an overall IELTS 6.0, with individual programmes setting more. TOEFL moved to a new 1 to 6 scale on 21 January 2026, and Belgian universities now quote both: VUB and Antwerp accept 4.5 on the new scale in place of the old 79 or 80.

The student visa is a long-stay visa D, and the proof of money behind it is fixed by royal decree. For 2026-27 a student must show EUR 1,062 net a month, normally through twelve months' worth, EUR 12,744, in a blocked account, through a scholarship certificate or through a guarantor who signs an Annex 32 formal obligation. Once in Belgium a student may work up to 20 hours a week during term without a work permit, and without an hourly limit during school holidays.