Hello,
I’m a Vietnamese going to study in Belgium for a bachelor’s degree. I myself never live in the US/Canada and, but I have several Vietnamese relatives living and working there, universities are really expensive in the US/Canada, going from quite affordable local tuition fees for state universities to ridiculously expensive Ivy league unviersities, so most of students are supported by a federal loan or (lesser extent) scholarship, the exception is Indian and East Asian students like me whose parents are almost always willing to pay for their child’s university…
Upon looking into information about studying in Belgium, and also [Belgian culture](https://www.afsusa.org/countries/belgium-french/), I was very surprised that in Belgium, parents (not just Indian and East Asian parents) generally support their children financially until the children reach adulthood (especially child’s university fees).
So, is it true? Thanks.
40 comments
>So, is it true?
Yes, but for the average family college doesn’t cost a lot. You either don’t make enough and get helped big time by the government or you pay about 2,000 a year for collega / university. Which is affordable for most that don’t need the financial aid.
Yep, for most I think it’s the case. My personal experience (more than 10 years ago) was that a year at university was about 835 €, fairly manageable… I had a gf at the time who’s parents had not enough income (I think they were retired) so she could file for help and had nothing to pay.
Yep, but costs are quite low here and if you cant afford it there are grants and subsidies.
Yes, that’s true. Going to college in Belgium costs a LOT less than in the US though. One thing we get back for paying a crapload of taxes.
In a lot of families the parents even pay for the students daily expenses, like groceries and their student dorm rent. Others have to get a part-time job if they want to live in a student dorm instead of with their parents. But the educational courses themselves are really cheap compared to other countries
Yes. But because higher education is subsidized, this isn’t really that big of a deal. The decision to follow a certain education is based solely on aptitude and desire. Not on financial background.
I actually received 4000€ each year for my studies and got a 100% free tuition
Most of the time yes. In case the parents can’t afford it, they can receive government support. If that’s still not enough, a part-time job on top of it should make it possible to afford your studies.
In any case, the concept of aquiring debt to be able to study is something completely unnecessary here, cost of studying pales in comparison to the US.
I actually know an American student who is doing her studies in Belgium, because the cost of living and studying abroad is still much cheaper than studying in the US, for a degree of comparable value (if we ignore the top universities in the US, which have an even larger price tag anyway).
Yes, and this is in fact mandatory. Parents are expected to pay for the education of their children even into adulthood, within reason.
There have been court cases about this when parents refused to pay for higher eduction, the children took them to court and the children won.
Universities here are strongly subsidised. So the university fee really is not that high for Belgians. Especially compared to neighbouring countries.
Everyone I know had their tuition, books,… paid for by their parents. My tuition was like 1200 euros a year and I only needed books for the first year
Tuition fees are not very high generally, but it also depends on where you’re from originally. It’s quite a lot more expensive if you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). For a standard academic year of 60 credits I’d say about €1.000 for EEA students and about €3.000 for others. Under certain conditions there are reductions of course, and even scholarships and the like. I work for the university of Antwerp so lemme know if you have any other questions!
University fees are almost non-existent in Belgium when comparing them to the fees paid in Anglosphere countries. If you come from a place like the US then you would almost consider University “free” in Belgium.
One thing that I have noticed in Belgium is that university/college students are well funded by their parents until they graduate. This means many of them receive an allowance and have student accommodation.
In my home country, it is uncommon to live in student accomodation (most people live at home where you live rent free), you work a part-time job during your studies to have money to spend when going out and you put your University fees on a government loan.
Yes this is true.
We pay 50% our income monthly on taxes, every working citizen of Belgium. Because of that, college and uni is heavily subsidized.
Now it Will cost around 1000€ for getting into college/uni and maybe another 1000€ on Schoolbooks, material for you use/year.
So yeah, we pay a LOT of taxes, look it up.
I had to pay 450€/year, so yeah if not your parents, one month of student job could cover your full studies
Kids also give a tax reduction as long as they study. Hence, the parents in essence do get money to support their children.
Come study in Belgium. Price/quality of education is top of the world
The majority does this. My parents are divorced and we paid for uni (tuition+books+train/bus fare) from a grant. Tuition was €90 due to my low income parents, however it’s more now. I lived on campus the last two years and paid this with summer jobs + the alimony from my dad + kinderbijslag. I informed at my bank for a loan and they never even heard of someone getting a loan to go to university. My brother did get an interest free loan from the university at some point when he was in his last year, poor time management meant he was close to his thesis deadline, no where near done and working would have meant not finishing that year so another year of tuition (at full price without a grant).
i came from Canada to study in belgium. im saving buttloads of money.
kinda sucks for Belgians since i basically didnt pay any taxes yet im able to get pretty much free uni in comparison + i get to travel and experience a new culture. not complaining tho, just seems unfair. i know id be pissed if someone not from canada ends up paying the same as me, being qualified for the same grants that we get as a result of taxes, and other subsidies, without paying any taxes themselves
like they make it even hard to work. its like they want me to profit from the free uni and then they just say bye bye .
Yes, because university in Belgium isn’t expensive and parents can afford that. In US, university is so ridiculously expensive that most of the families can’t afford that.
Europe’s education and especially healthcare is just much, much cheaper than US. In some European countries, like Poland, university is 100% free.
I would say yes, same for driving licences. And I will do the same for my kid. But I do want them to have like a little job so they learn about working. Save half rest the can spent on travel/ partying and stuff you don’t need. And I will also help them buy a house
The government helps you if you don’t have enough money. We don’t work with student loans as in other countries, so you don’t have to pay it back.
It is true, but it doesn’t cost much here. I don’t remember what it cost for me, but it was <€1000/school year.
I was elligible for a lower fee due to a smaller family income though, but even if you aren’t, it is not that expensive here.
Just uni/college isn’t that expensive for a Belgian. Additional costs can be more significant housing if you don’t commute can easily surpass uni fees, and depending on your program books can be expensive too.
The state also expects parents to support their child during higher education since as long as the child is studying and younger then 25 the parent receives child support.
I paid €800 a year. Within the last decade. Our taxes are high but we get a lot back for our tax money.
Yes, this is true. For EU citizens it is only a small fee to enroll. It’s about a €1000 registration fee. If you are not an EU citizen this enrollment fee will be higher. Around 5000- 8000 euros annually dependend on the university you want to go to, without a scholarship.
Normally those prices are mentioned on the website of the universities.
I’m in Liege university and tuition is 835 euro a year , as it is rather cheap and tha my parents are wealthy enough to afford it, they pay unif for me
Education is affordable. The real cost for students is housing.
Geez, reading all the comments I realize what an old fart I am.
I (my parents, that is) still paid the tuition in BEF, and even though the field was IT, nobody had a laptop in class (batteries wouldn’t last long enough anyway :).
You will pay a lot lot more in rent while studying than to pay for the studies themselves.
Social system in Belgium make the cost of an average university at less than 1000 /year.
Beyond that facility, it is “normal” to pay for your children in the global opinion. Some won’t think the same but as at that age, children often still live under the same roof at their parents, it is commonly accepted that they treat them as in secundary.
Even if at 18yr, they got the legal age, they often just aren’t responsible enough and still are close to their family. So it is a main opinion to pay for your children. After bachelor, it often changes. But children help often a bit with a job.(one third the price for me each year)
It is, and from what a girl in my class has told me, if your parents don’t pay, they got you covered. ULB’s fee is 835€ per year but if you can prove you can’t pay (in her case, her parents kicked her out the week she turned 18) then they help you.
She allegedly gets her year payed + 900/month from the university’s social department just for being a student.
I’m unsure how trustworthy she is, but she explained this to me a few months ago.
I would say yes. During my university years I did know some students that worked for one or two years to pay for their studies or were a ‘workstudent’.
‘workstudents’ are generally people that combine a job and studies. Maybe working parttime and taking less credits a year than a full yearly program would be.
I knew someone who worked parttime in a cafe, she had to puzzle her class and work schedule to fit more or less together. Or someone else who had a gap year between his bachelor and master to work for a year as he didn’t have enough money left to pay for the master degree.
That being said, most of the people I knew had parents who paid for their studies. Tuition is very affordable. For me it was always less than €1000euro’s a year. Of course you do need to calculate that studying costs more than just the tuition. Like books or other supplies, daily needs like food. And many people are not from the city of the university so often they will rent a room in the city. Many parents also cover these costs. Of course which of these other costs they covered and to what extend varied a lot from family to family and situation to situation.
Families with really low income. They could get some type of scholarship/financial aide from the government. I think I received such a form at the end of high school or when I was signing up for uni. But as my family wasn’t financially struggling, the financial aide was not applicable to me. So I don’t know much about it.
Edit: I suddenly thought of ‘kinderbijslag’, which is financial support for having children. Every family with children gets some governmental subsidies. I don’t know the exact rules, but if the child stays dependant on the family after they’re 18y/o, then the parents can keep receiving this money until the ‘child’ is max 25years old. I knew multiple people in uni. Where the parents would transfer that money to their children (as extra pocket money, but more often to cover some of the living/studying expenses). I’m not sure how much it actually is, but I’m sure it’s several hundred euros a year. ( Maybe someone else in this thread has a better idea of how much it is)
My parents saved for my 2 brothers and me every month, and they paid for our education (everything, tuition, books, kot) out of that.
2 important notes:
– I studied for 6 years. This costs less than 4000 euros.
– there was still plenty of saved money left.
Just wanted to wish you good luck on your studies here. There’s a large Vietnamese community in Belgium and it’s probably one of the most appreciated one too. Good luck!
Yes, I think there was one guy in my class who paid his own way. My mother paid my tuition and she also qualified for financial support, she gave me that and that was my budget for books/supplies (art student so it quickly gets expensive). I stayed at home and took the train to school but my brother got his student flat and paid for it by working weekend jobs. I went back to school for a second degree in my 30s and it’s entirely covered by a scholarship from the government, since I only work parttime and support myself.
But be warned, the fees quoted are for Belgians and EU students. Those from elsewhere probably pay more but I don’t know how much. You have then to find living expenses which are the same for everyone.
Yes, because it’s 800 bucks instead of 10k
The matriculation fees for university are quite low. Free education is in the constitution, so parents usually pay for lodgings, food and clothing. Quite a students do a summer job too.
My parents literally paid 14 euros last year this includes books and everything.
US higher education costs around 25-30 times more on average so it’s not that big of a deal for a parent to support their kids here.
Of course we have to pay, but probably 10x less than US/Canada ….