A minimum of 3 top Flemish universities will substantially raise tuition charges for non-EU students next year, after the government revealed it will just subsidise 2% of non-EU enrolments.
Previously, Flemish universities could get public financing for all qualified non-EU students, with the modification triggering tuition walkings at numerous highly ranked institutions.
At the University of Antwerp, tuition charges for non-EU master’s students will increase by over a third from EUR5,800 to EUR7,800, while undergraduate charges will see a higher proportional increase from EUR3,100 to EUR4,300.
KU Leuven — Belgium’s highest ranked university — is set to increase costs throughout all classifications by approximately 20%, while VUB Brussels University announced a number of boosts in between EUR400– EUR1,000 depending on the program, as reported by the Brussels Times.
The three organizations to announce tuition modifications are also those most financially exposed to the 2% cap, with VUB hosting the greatest percentage of non-EU trainees, followed by KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp, according to Study in Flanders data.
Annik Schellens, manager of worldwide programs at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, stated her organization had actually been closely keeping an eye on the fiscal situation over current years, with the current modifications set to have a minimal impact on its financial resources.
More broadly, education economic expert Kristof De Witte criticised the policy as “short-sighted”, arguing that Belgium needs knowledgeable graduates to add to the workforce and cautioning that charge walkings might discourage non-EU students from pertaining to Belgium.
However Schellens stated the developments were not all unfavorable, as they had actually reignited conversations about the need to bring in more non-EU students to Belgium, aligned with larger European recruitment efforts.
“We are hearing increasing calls from various stakeholders to welcome more international trainees from outside the [European Economic Area], so these policy modifications have certainly brought that debate back to the forefront.”
We are hearing increasing calls from numerous stakeholders to welcome more worldwide students from outside the EEA
Annik Schellens, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences
The decrease in government subsidies for non-EU trainees follows a string of reforms impacting global students, as the Belgian government pursues a hard-line anti-immigration program regardless of labour scarcities in the country.
From next scholastic year, global trainees will face more stringent visa scrutiny and tighter requirements for renewing residence permits.
What’s more, Schellens stated academic success will become “much more critical” under the federal government’s new academic development requirements, promising that her institution would, where possible, provide more academic assistance to trainees.
She welcomed the move to increase trainees’ proof of financial requirements as a “positive advancement” set to provide a “more transparent and sensible” indicator of the expense of studying and residing in Belgium.
“It is much better for students to thoroughly think about these costs before they show up than to face monetary problems throughout their research studies,” she stated.