Resolution on the Increase of Tuition Fees in the French-speaking Community of Belgium

In the French-speaking Community of Belgium, the government has announced a reform of tuition fees that would apply from the 2026–2027 academic year. Under this reform, the current system would be replaced by a new structure where the full fee would reach 1,194 EUR for students who do not qualify for reduced categories. 

Currently, tuition fees vary significantly between types of institutions. At universities, the reference fee is 835 EUR, but in higher education colleges and arts schools, students in short-cycle programmes pay as little as 175 EUR per year and up to 835 EUR depending on the real costs associated with their program. Under the  announced reform, all these fees would be aligned and brought up to a maximum of 1,194 EUR. For students currently enrolled in higher education colleges and art  schools, this represents an increase that can exceed 600%, turning affordable  programmes into prohibitively expensive ones. 

The reform is presented as a progressive system based on income, but in practice its thresholds are set so low that many households would fall into the highest fee category despite not being wealthy. For many families, particularly where both parents are in employment, the reform would make payment of the full 1,194 EUR fee highly likely. Rather than broadening access, the reform risks excluding many students while significantly increasing the financial burden attached to enrolment. The government claims that people having access to reduced fees without having  access to scholarship will increase by almost 20%. FEF has been warning that those  people were already choosing low-cost programs and that going to a reduced fee of 375  EUR or 835 EUR might still represent a consequent increase for most of them. 

The situation is also concerning for non-resident students from both EU and non-EU citizens, who would no longer have access to tuition fee reductions under the new framework. This would create an additional inequality in access to higher education and further weaken the principle that public higher education should remain  accessible irrespective of social and personal background. The government, by voting  this reform, would breach article 24 of the directive 2004/38/CE. 

Serious concerns have also been raised regarding the implementation of the reform. The new system places responsibility for determining students’ tuition categories on  the administration that already manages study grants. However, these services are already severely overstretched and have themselves acknowledged that they will not be able to take on this additional administrative burden. This raises serious doubts  about whether the reform can be implemented at all, and risks creating a system that is both socially unfair and administratively unworkable. 

FEF and ESU therefore calls for the rejection of the current reform and a political commitment towards the progressive introduction of free higher education, in line 

with Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights  and equal access to reduced tuition conditions for all eligible EU students with  regard to directive 2004/38/CE article 24. 

Reason & Seconders 

The French community government of Belgium wants to increase the cost of the tuition fee and it will  have a great impact on access to higher education.  

Seconders : UNEL, LSBv, Amlé, ÖH, CREUP