Studying in Belgium

What a year costs

Tuition is low by Western European standards, but non-EU students pay more than Belgians.

• Flanders sets fees per university. At Ghent University, a 60-credit master's year for non-EEA students in 2026-2027 costs €2,297.40 in arts, law and psychology (Fee A) and €7,079.40 in sciences, engineering, medicine, economics and most other faculties (Fee B). EEA students pay €1,181.40.
• Wallonia-Brussels caps the standard fee at €835. From 2025-2026 most non-EU students pay that plus an additional contribution of €4,175, a total of €5,010 a year. Students from Least Developed Countries and some grant holders pay only the €835.

Check the fee for your exact programme and year: some specialised and advanced master's programmes charge more.

Living costs. Ghent University's faculty information sheet for 2026-2027 puts a realistic student budget at €1,200-1,800 a month, with a room in shared student housing at €400-650 and a studio at €700-1,050. University halls are cheaper: Ghent's own residences cost €391 a month for an unrenovated room on a full academic year contract, rising to €707 for a studio, plus a new city student housing tax from January 2027 of €5.50-11.80 a month. Brussels and Leuven run higher than Ghent; smaller university towns run lower.

The visa

You need a national type D visa for study, then you register with your commune on arrival and receive an A card (the temporary residence permit).

The money: €1,062 a month. This is the headline change. For new applications for the 2026-2027 academic year onwards, the minimum rose from €835 to €1,062 net a month. It was set by Royal Decree of 12 January 2026, published in the Moniteur belge on 26 January 2026, and it is indexed every 15 February, so expect it to rise again for 2027-2028. The Belgian Embassy in Seoul's student visa page already quotes the €1,062 figure. At the time of writing the Immigration Office's own English page on sufficient means still shows the old €835 for 2025-2026: go by the new figure.

You can prove the money in four ways:

• a blocked account opened through your institution, holding twelve times the monthly amount, which at €1,062 is €12,744
• a bank guarantee through a specialised company, for the same amount
• a certificate of a scholarship or loan from an international organisation or a national government
• a sponsor's formal commitment (annex 32), where a solvent guarantor undertakes to cover you. The government has announced a guarantor database and a blacklist of unreliable guarantors, so weak sponsors will be refused more often.

Fees: a visa handling fee equivalent to €180 in local currency, plus the Immigration Office contribution fee of €251, indexed from 1 January 2026. Students with a Belgian grant and applicants under 18 are exempt from the €251.

Processing time. Study in Flanders warns the normal procedure "can easily take up to six to eight weeks". Some embassies also require a questionnaire or interview, and consulates in high-volume countries book up in July and August. Apply as soon as you have your admission letter and money in place.

Working while you study

20 hours a week during the academic year, with no weekly limit during official holidays (Christmas, spring and summer, meaning July, August and September in the French-speaking system). Your residence card shows your right to work. Two conditions catch students out:

• You cannot work in the summer before your first academic year in Belgium.
• Work must not clash with classes, and Study in Belgium warns that going over 20 hours a week in term can lead the Immigration Office to conclude that study is no longer your main activity, which puts your permit renewal at risk.

Do not plan to fund your living costs from part-time work. At €1,062 a month the government has set the visa threshold at roughly what a frugal student actually spends, precisely because it no longer wants students relying on jobs to close the gap.

After you graduate

The search year: a residence permit of up to 12 months to look for work or set up a company. You must apply at least 15 days before your A card expires. During the search year you have unrestricted access to the labour market, so you can work while you look. Once you have a qualifying job you move onto a single permit or EU Blue Card.

The search year is also open to graduates of another EU country who spent part of their course in Belgium on a mobility scheme; they must apply within three months of the diploma.

Language

English-taught provision is concentrated at master's level. English-taught bachelor's degrees at public universities are limited, especially in Flanders.

The language of daily life depends on where you study. Leuven, Ghent and Antwerp are Dutch-speaking; Liège, Louvain-la-Neuve, Namur and Mons are French-speaking; Brussels is officially bilingual with English widely used. You do not need Dutch or French for the visa, but part-time jobs, landlords outside the student market and graduate employers outside international firms often expect one of them. If your programme is Dutch-taught and you need Ghent's preparatory year of Dutch, you must apply a year earlier.

When to apply

The academic year starts in mid-September.

• Ghent University: applicants who need a visa must submit a complete application before 1 April, with the online application open from October. Your previous degree must already be verified through their qualification check.
• Other Flemish universities set their own deadlines, typically in early spring for visa students: check your programme page.
• French-speaking bachelor's: you usually need an equivalence of your school qualification from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, filed between 15 November and 15 July before you enrol (up to 14 September only if your certificate was issued after 10 July). It costs €65-200 depending on the country that issued your certificate, and the university cannot register you without it.

Work backwards from the visa: admission by April or May, money in the blocked account or guarantee in place by June, visa lodged by early July.

What to watch out for

The new €1,062 threshold is not optional. Agents and older guides still quote €835 or even €803. A blocked account funded at the old level will be refused for a 2026-2027 start. Because the amount is indexed each February, confirm the figure again in the spring before you apply.

Weak sponsors. Annex 32 commitments from relatives with modest or irregular income are the most common reason student applications stall. The government is building a database of guarantors and a blacklist, so a guarantor who has previously sponsored students who then fell into difficulty is a liability.

Housing in Leuven, Ghent and Brussels. University halls fill early and are allocated in spring. You need an address to register at the commune, and without registration you do not receive your A card. Scams that ask for a deposit before a viewing are common. Secure written accommodation before you travel.

Two systems, two sets of rules. Fees, equivalence procedures and deadlines differ between Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels. Advice written for one does not apply to the other.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every figure above carries the date we checked it. Check the official source before you rely on it, and note that the €1,062 threshold is re-indexed every February.