Important announcement regarding financial support
From academic year 2026-2027, new conditions apply to the study grant from the Flemish Government. As a result of these cost-cutting measures, the financial support offered by the VUB will also change from the 2026–2027 academic year.
More information about the proposed changes can be found here.
Overview
Qualify for reduced tuition fee?
Important: Students enrolled in an advanced Master's, a postgraduate or a PhD programme and students enrolled with an exam contract are not eligible for reduced tuition fees.
Scholarship
Do you receive a scholarship from the Flemish government? If so, you will pay the reduced tuition rate. This is automatically granted following a positive decision by the scholarships department.
If you are not entitled to a study grant from the Flemish Government because you do not meet the educational requirements or age requirements, but you do meet the nationality requirements and financial requirements, you may still be eligible for the scholarship rate.
To qualify, you must submit a study grant application. The Study Grants Department will assess whether you meet the conditions for the scholarship rate. They will then inform VUB of the tuition fee rate that applies to you.
Almost-scholarship
You are eligible for the near-scholarship rate if you narrowly fail to meet the financial requirements for a study grant: your household income is only slightly above the maximum threshold, or the cadastral income represents too large a share of the total taxable income of your household. The near-scholarship rate is an amount between the scholarship rate and the full tuition fee.
To qualify, you must submit a study grant application. The Study Grants Department will assess whether you meet the conditions for the near-scholarship rate (Dutch only). They will then inform VUB of the tuition fee rate that applies to you.
After submitting an application for study grant to the Flemish Government
When you have submitted an application for a study grant to the Flemish Government, you automatically qualify for the provisional scholarship rate. You will retain this provisional scholarship rate until a decision has been made.
The Study Grants Department informs VUB through data exchange of the calculated rate: scholarship rate, almost-scholarship rate, or no reduced tuition fee. Depending on the decision, you may receive an additional invoice.
If no decision has been made by 1 May, all students whose application is still being processed will receive an additional invoice for the full tuition fee. If you subsequently receive a positive decision from the Study Grants Department, any overpaid tuition fees will be refunded.