Future government mulls curbs on HE internationalisation

International students are increasingly opting to study at Belgian universities, as they are easily accessible for people from abroad. However, in recent years, the Flemish government has been pushing back on this trend. It has twice clashed with Dutch-speaking universities over English-language bachelor and masters programmes to stop higher education from being “de-Dutchified”, reports The Brussels Times.

Now, the parties negotiating the formation of the next Flemish Government, N-VA, Vooruit and CD&V, are considering further reining in internationalisation by curbing the intake of non-European students with a funding cap, De Tijd reported.

In essence, universities and colleges that have too high a proportion of non-European students – people from countries outside the European Economic Area (EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) – would see their subsidies being frozen. A maximum of 2% of non-European students is currently on the table. For universities which have wagered on internationalisation in recent years, the loss would run into millions of euros.
Full report on The Brussels Times site