Khaled Diab investigates what Belgium can offer those students who want to take undergraduate courses in English.

June 2006

Life is full of milestones, but one of the most memorable for many people is their university days. For young people, the choice of where to study is often a tricky one, and many students start thinking about it long before their final school year. Nowadays, the issue is even more complex with the widening geographic dimension as people have become more mobile.

The dilemma faced constantly by young expats is: “Should I study back home, in my host country or in a third country?” For a growing number of Belgian youth, the question has become: “Should I study in my native language, or would I gain more advantages in the international setting by studying in English?”.

To help shed some light on such questions, (A)WAY has already looked into the opportunities for studying in English-speaking countries. Here we turn our attention to undergraduate programmes offered in the medium of English in Belgium.

Top of the global classroom

The Belgian education system is one of the best in the world. The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) consistently places the kingdom’s schoolchildren among the world’s highest performers. One particularly eye-catching result, given European students’ waning performance in mathematics, was that Flemish students were in the top three for mathematical literacy alongside the Japanese and Koreans.

This should come as no surprise when we consider that Belgium pumps more than 3% of its gross domestic product, and 6% of its state budget, into education. In fact, education – which, like many policy areas has devolved to the regions – is the biggest single budget line at regional level.

At the tertiary level, Belgium qualifies top-rate graduates, and its universities are involved in cutting-edge research, from brain research and biomedicine to nanotechnology. There are eight main universities: two branches of the Free University of Brussels (VUB and ULB), two branches of the Catholic University of Leuven (Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve), Antwerp, Gent, Liège and Mons.

Language front line

Belgium is a country united by pragmatism and divided by language. After its creation in 1830, French was the only recognised official language, and was used for all official purposes, including education, despite the fact that the country is made up of three distinct language groups.

The so-called ‘language wars’ – and subsequent compromises – have led to the current system whereby education is devolved to the regions and, by law, the main language of instruction at schools and at undergraduate levels has to be that of the region. This has the unfortunate side effect that Belgium does not take advantage of bilingual ‘immersion’ education. It also means that Belgium’s eight main universities do not generally offer English-medium Bachelor programmes, although many offer postgraduate ones.

“At Bachelors level, only 10% [of the syllabus] can be taught in another language,” explains Delfien Cloet of Gent University’s International Relations Office.

Interestingly, Leuven University (www.kuleuven.ac.be/english/), offers two rather unusual undergraduate programmes completely in English: one in theology and religious studies and the other in philosophy.

“The law dictates that any programmes taught in another language must have an equivalent in Dutch. That makes it harder to organise Bachelor programmes,” admits Jan Herpelinck of Leuven University.

But the demand is there for English-medium education and many institutions are finding innovative ways around the dilemma. One option is to set up a private college.

Back to school after horsing around

William Shakespeare’s Richard III offered his entire kingdom for a horse after his own trusted steed was killed in battle. Lauren Smith exchanged her life in the United States working with show jumpers to move to Belgium – one of the world’s leading horse-breeding nations – and take up employment on a horse farm.

Now, at 23 and six years after she completed high school, she has decided to go to university. “I’d been living here for two years prior to going back to school. I have set up a good life here and I wanted to continue the ‘abroad’ experience,” she explains.

And so she decided to enrol at Vesalius College (see box). “The college is competitively priced compared with the United States. The classes are small and, as an older student, the three-year degree programme is attractive. Here, I can complete Bachelor and Masters qualifications in four years. In the US, it would take me six years.”

Where America meets Belgium

The Flemish arm of the Free University of Brussels (VUB), with the assistance of Boston University, set up Vesalius College nearly two decades ago as an English-medium, American-style liberal arts college. Named after a Belgian Renaissance freethinker, it educates some 350 undergraduate students. Despite a low student-to-teacher ratio, it only offers majors in business, communications and international affairs.

“These courses are the most compatible with Brussels itself,” explains Pamela Dalby, the college’s director of student support services.

The college draws its student population from some 40 to 60 countries. The biggest group of students studying at the college are Belgians, but often those with some foreign blood. Another major group comprises expatriates who went through school here and want to remain, she explains.

“Brussels is in a very special position and we help set up internships for our students at EU institutions, multinationals, etc.,” adds Dalby.

Fees: €4,900 per semester

Annual costs: €16,000 approx, including fees, books, housing

Website: http://www.vub.ac.be/VECO/bveco/index.php

Your life: part 2

‘Your life: part 2’ is the slogan of EHSAL, the European University College Brussels. In Dutch, it offers degrees – both undergraduate and postgraduate – in economics and management, healthcare, education and social studies. In English, it offers business-related programmes. At the Bachelor level, it offers business administration, and English and economics for academic studies. There is also a full-time non-degree programme to prepare students for the Bachelor of Business Administration.

“In the 2005/2006 academic year, we launched our BBA programme which targets both Belgian and international students,” explains Ingeborg Vandenbulcke, head of external co-operation at EHSAL. “The reason we set it up is that demand for such programmes is high in Belgium. And for students from some parts of the world, studying in Dutch is just not possible. We also wanted to create a more international feel.”

While EHSAL has 5,000 students studying in Dutch, some 60 students follow its BBA programme. They mainly come from Belgium and the rest of the EU, but also from as far afield as Nigeria and the United States.

Fees: €523 for citizens of the European Higher Education Area. €5400 annually for other nationalities

Cost of accommodation and subsistence: €500 per month

Cost of study materials: €500-700 annually

Website: www.ehsal.be

More private affairs

There are also a number of private full-time, part-time or distance learning options which specialise in particular areas. Some of these institutions may not be recognised by the Belgian state and tend to charge high fees.

The United Business Institute in Brussels (www.ubi.edu) offers a three-year Bachelors programme in business studies. The Business School of Hotel Management – BBA (www.bbahotelschool.org) offers a three-year bachelors programme in international hotel management.

The UK’s largest, albeit largely virtual, state-funded university, the Open University has a branch of its Business School in Brussels. It offers a wide range of ‘blended learning’ management and professional development programmes.

The Erasmus Hogeschool Brussels (www.ehb.be) teaches mostly in Dutch, but is working to establish a range of programmes in English. It currently offers only one Bachelors programme entirely in English: Communication and Languages as Strategic Skills (CLASS).

The International Management Institute in Antwerp (www.timi.edu) provides a number of undergraduate and graduate programmes. At the Bachelor level, it provides degrees in business administration, business communication and public relations, European business and management, as well as information systems.

This article appeared in the May 2006 issue of (A)WAY.

From the archives

The language placebo

January 2005 – To hear some politicians speak, one would think that language and culture were the panacea for all Belgium’s social and economic woes vis-à-vis its immigrant community. Read on

A state of pragmatism

March 2004 – As one of the original six founders of the European Union, Belgium has been a powerful driving force behind the continent’s unification. However, after nearly 174 years of pragmatic nationhood, the marriage between its two main communities has become increasingly shaky. What are the prospects for enduring national unity and how much does it matter in a borderless Europe? Read on

More to Brussels than meets the eye

March 2004 – As the European Union prepares for a political shift eastwards, its famously Byzantine politics will get just that bit more confusing. The new member states may make the EU’s bureaucratic landscape seem greyer, but the accompanying influx of thousands of eastern Europeans will make the cultural kaleidoscope of Brussels, the city that plays host to so many of its institutions, that much more colourful. Read on

Words without frontiers

January 2003 – Many parents are calling for immersion language learning to be made widespread in Belgium but a debate over pedagogy and politics stands in the way. Read on

ã2006 K. Diab. Unless otherwise stated, all the content on this website is the copyright of Khaled Diab.