Belgium vs the Netherlands for English-Taught Programs
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published May 04, 2026 • Education Planning, Study in Europe
Flanders charges EU students around €1,157 a year in tuition. The Netherlands charges €2,601 for 2025-26, rising to €2,694 for 2026-27. Both teach hundreds of programs in English, but the Netherlands is now cutting back its English-taught bachelor's offer.
💶 Flanders (Belgium): about €1,157/year for EU/EEA students
💶 Netherlands: €2,601/year in 2025-26, €2,694/year in 2026-27
📩 Netherlands: apply through the centralized Studielink portal
📩 Belgium: apply directly to each Flemish university
🎓 Dutch universities are adding a numerus fixus to some English-taught bachelor's tracks
🏠 Flanders generally costs less to live in than the Dutch Randstad cities
Tuition: Flanders costs less than the Netherlands
EU and EEA students in Flanders pay a fixed enrollment fee of around €1,157 a year for a full 60-ECTS program in 2025-26, according to Study in Flanders . That rate covers public universities and university colleges across Flemish Belgium and stays the same regardless of your program.
The Netherlands sets a statutory tuition fee for EU/EEA, Swiss, and Surinamese nationals. It is €2,601 for the 2025-26 academic year and rises to €2,694 for 2026-27, according to DUO , the Dutch education executive agency. This statutory rate covers one bachelor's and one master's degree per student. A second degree at the same level triggers the institutional rate instead, which reaches several thousand euros a year.
Wallonia and Brussels, the French-speaking parts of Belgium, set tuition separately from Flanders, so this comparison covers Flemish institutions only.
Quick comparison
| Flanders (Belgium) | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| EU tuition, 2025-26 | ~€1,157/year | €2,601/year |
| Application system | Direct to each university | Studielink, centralized |
| English-taught bachelor's | Fewer programs, stable | Wide offer, now being reduced |
| Numerus fixus fields | Medicine, dentistry (entrance exam) | Medicine, some psychology, and select English tracks |
Admission: selection systems differ
Both countries restrict entry to high-demand fields through a numerus fixus, a capped number of places filled by ranking or exam rather than first-come, first-served. Medicine and dentistry fall under this system in both Flanders and the Netherlands.
In Flanders, medicine and dentistry require a mandatory entrance exam before you enroll, no matter your prior grades. The Netherlands instead uses decentralized selection for numerus fixus programs: each university runs its own admission procedure, weighing grades, a motivation letter, and sometimes an aptitude test.
Application channels also differ. Dutch universities process almost all applications through Studielink, a single national portal that forwards your application to your chosen institution. Flemish universities do not share a common system. You apply separately to each institution, following its own deadlines and document requirements.
English-taught programs: the Netherlands is scaling back
The Netherlands has held the largest English-taught program catalog in continental Europe for over a decade, spanning bachelor's and master's level. That position is changing. Dutch lawmakers have worked since 2024 on the Wet internationalisering in balans, a bill designed to reduce the share of English-taught bachelor's content and slow international enrollment growth.
As of July 2025, universities dropped a planned language test requirement for existing English-taught programs, but new degree proposals still need to justify teaching in English over Dutch. Universities also agreed to introduce a numerus fixus on selected English-taught bachelor's tracks and to add more Dutch-language content to first-year teaching, according to ICEF Monitor . Expect English-taught bachelor's places at popular Dutch universities to get more competitive over the next few intake cycles.
Flanders has not announced similar restrictions. Its English-taught offer sits mostly at master's level, with fewer English bachelor's programs than the Netherlands, concentrated at KU Leuven, Ghent University, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Cost of living and daily life
Antwerp, Ghent, and Leuven generally cost less to rent a room in than Amsterdam, Utrecht, or Rotterdam, the main student hubs in the Randstad. Both countries offer extensive bike infrastructure and reliable train links between university cities, so you do not need a car in either location.
Dutch cities run a public transport student pass system tied to your student finance registration, while Belgian students typically buy discounted regional transit passes through their university. Health insurance is mandatory in both countries; EU students usually stay on their home country's European Health Insurance Card arrangement or take out local student cover, depending on length of stay.
Which one fits you
Choose Flanders if tuition cost matters most and you are comfortable applying to universities one by one.
Choose the Netherlands if you want the broadest current selection of English-taught bachelor's programs, and apply early as places shrink.
Check numerus fixus deadlines for both countries well before general admission closes, since selection procedures often run on an earlier timeline.