Belgium: Wallonia-Brussels Federation to increase tuition fees for university students in 2026

Tuition fees for university students will be indexed in Wallonia-Brussels from 2026, the government of Wallonia-Brussels (French-speaking Belgium) announced on 10/10/2025, in its budget for 2026-2029.

This means a progressive increase from a maximum of 836€ today to 1,194€ to catch up on inflation. This is the first time tuition fees have been indexed since 2011. The new fees will be close to the ones paid by students in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.

Students are divided into three categories today: scholarship students (not paying tuition fees), modest students (paying 375€), and full tuition fee students (paying 836€).

But they will be divided into four categories in 2026: Scholarship students (unchanged), a widened modest students category (375€), a new medium category (835€), and full tuition fee students (1,194€).

This measure is taken to reduce Federation spending and rely more on student contributions, with an estimated saving of €10.8 M for the Federation.

The Federation is also looking into increasing tuition fees for international students to help fund its…