Belgium's Francophone universities hike tuition 43 percent, students protest in Brussels
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Jun 25, 2026 • Education Planning, Study in Europe, Money & Budgeting, Education News & Policy
Belgium's French-speaking universities raise full tuition from 835 euros to 1,194 euros a year starting in 2026-27, a rise of about 43 percent. Thousands of students and staff protested in Brussels against the increase in June 2026.
💶 Full rate: 835 euros to 1,194 euros a year
🎓 New middle tier keeps some students at the old 835 euro rate
📩 Low-income and scholarship rates stay largely unchanged
⏱️ Change applies from the 2026-27 academic year
What changed
The government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which oversees French-speaking higher education in Belgium, ended a freeze on the minerval, the annual registration fee, that had held since 2011. Starting in the 2026-27 academic year, the standard full-rate minerval at French-speaking universities rises from 835 euros to about 1,194 euros, a jump of roughly 43 percent, according to student.be .
The government announced the reform on 10 October 2025 as part of its 2026-2029 budget planning, and it applies to all French-speaking higher education establishments, according to RTBF . The minerval is the annual registration fee you pay to enrol at a Belgian university or college, separate from housing, books and other living costs.
The government also restructured the fee system into more tiers. Scholarship holders continue to pay nothing, students on modest incomes pay around 374 euros, and a new intermediate tier keeps some students at the old 835 euro level, reserved for students whose income is too high for the reduced rate but not high enough for the full new rate.
Why the government raised fees
The Wallonia-Brussels Federation says indexing the minerval after 15 years without an increase brings the fee back in line with inflation. The federation expects the new fee structure to save the region about 10.8 million euros starting in 2026.
The new tiered system aims to soften the impact on lower-income students while raising more revenue from students able to pay the full rate, a shift toward what the government calls a fairer, income-based structure. The reform sits inside a wider budget plan covering 2026 through 2029, which suggests the government does not expect to reverse the increase in the near term.
How universities are responding
Some universities moved to soften the increase on their own. ULB (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) announced extra financial aid for students hit hardest by the higher minerval, and UCLouvain adapted and expanded its own social aid package ahead of the new academic year, according to Belgian outlets BX1 and La Libre . If you study at one of these institutions, ask your student services office directly what extra support exists beyond the government's own tiered minerval, since aid rules and amounts differ university by university.
The Brussels protests
Thousands of students and university staff marched through central Brussels on June 6, 2026, disrupting traffic on several main streets, according to coverage of the demonstrations . Protesters argued the fee rise adds to the financial burden on families and pushes higher education further out of reach for students from lower-income households.
Demonstrators called for the government to keep universities accessible across all social classes, rejecting the argument that the new tiered system fully protects lower-income students from the change. The scale of the march reflects how sensitive the topic became after 15 years with no increase at all, a stretch long enough that many current students had never seen the minerval move before this reform.
If tuition in Belgium affects your plans
💶 Check which minerval tier applies to your household income before you budget.
🎓 Ask your target university directly which rate applies to your specific program and status.
📩 Gather the income documentation your university needs to assess your tier early, since the boursier and modest-income rates depend on paperwork, not self-declaration alone.
Ask your student services office about university-level aid on top of the government tiers, since schools like ULB and UCLouvain now run their own support alongside the reform.
📩 Watch for further announcements, since protests over the increase continued into the new academic year.