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Belgium is home to highly ranked universities such as KU Leuven and Ghent University, and many of their Master’s programmes are taught in English. Through its development cooperation, the Belgian Government funds full scholarships in Belgium for students and professionals from developing countries, while the Flemish Government and Belgian universities offer merit scholarships to students from around the world. scholars4dev.com lists the top Belgium scholarships for international students below.

Belgian Government Scholarships »

VLIR-UOS ICP Connect Scholarships (Belgium)
VLIR-UOS, the main Flemish funder of university cooperation for development, awards full ICP Connect scholarships to nationals and residents of 25 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They cover tuition, travel, insurance and living costs for the whole programme at Flemish universities and universities of applied sciences. For 2027-2028, deadlines are set by each programme, up to 28 February 2027. The scholarships cover 12 development-related programmes: professional Bachelor’s degrees in hotel management and applied computer science; Master’s degrees in aquaculture, food technology, marine and lake science, road safety, nutrition and food systems, sustainable land management and tropical biodiversity; and advanced Master’s degrees in development evaluation and management, globalisation and development, and governance and development.

Government of Flanders Master Mind Scholarships (Belgium)
The Flemish Government’s Master Mind Scholarships help outstanding students from all countries except Russia take a Master’s programme at a university or university of applied sciences in Flanders or Brussels. For 2026-2027, each scholarship gave €10,225 a year plus a tuition fee waiver. The programme is under review for 2027-2028, but host institutions are already taking applications; at KU Leuven, one application by 15 January 2027 also covers the KU Leuven Master’s scholarships. Students apply through the Flemish host institution, which nominates its candidates. The scholarships cover eligible Master’s programmes in all fields at participating institutions, from engineering, science and health to business, law, the social sciences and the arts; preparatory, bridging and distance-learning programmes are excluded.

ARES International Training Scholarships (Belgium)
ARES, funded by Belgian development cooperation, offers about 100 International Training scholarships for 2027-2028 to people who live and work in one of its 32 partner countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Scholars take a one-year specialised Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, or a six-month continuing education course, at an institution of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, and the scholarship pays international travel, a monthly living allowance, visa costs and insurance. Applicants need at least two years of relevant work experience. The 2027-2028 call closed on 18 September 2026, and the next call is expected in August 2027. The scholarships cover the development-related trainings on ARES’s list, such as specialised Master’s degrees in food chain safety management and in preventive conservation and collection management, and a certificate in cybersecurity operations.

WBI Master IN Grants (Belgium)
Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI), the international relations agency of French-speaking Belgium, offers Master IN grants to international graduates who want to take a 60- or 120-credit Master’s programme at a university, university college or art school of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. For 2026-2027 there were 15 grants of €10,020 a year, paid in monthly instalments, and WBI also covers health, repatriation and liability insurance; for a two-year Master’s, the grant continues only if the first year is passed. Applicants need a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from a foreign institution awarded no more than five years before the programme starts, and priority goes to graduates from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, the UK and the USA. Applications go to the chosen institution, which ranks its candidates for WBI; the 2026-2027 deadline was 31 March 2026, and the 2027-2028 call has not been published yet. The grants cover Master’s programmes in all fields, although some institutions limit them to a selection of their programmes.

See also the Erasmus Mundus Scholarships description, for joint Master’s programmes that include Belgian universities

Belgian Universities that offer Scholarships for International Students »

KU Leuven Inspiring the Outstanding Scholarship (Belgium)
KU Leuven’s Inspiring the Outstanding Scholarship, paid for by the KU Leuven International Scholarship Fund, is a full scholarship for an outstanding student from anywhere in the world who starts a Master’s or advanced Master’s programme. It waives the tuition fee, leaving only an administration fee of about €140, and pays €13,200 a year for up to two years. Only one is awarded each year, but the same application, due by 15 January 2027, also considers students for the KU Leuven Scholarships for Africa, ASEAN and Central and South America (for nationals of those regions) and for the Master Mind Scholarships. The scholarships cover the eligible Master’s programmes on KU Leuven’s list, across its groups of science, engineering and technology, biomedical sciences, and humanities and social sciences.

See also the Science@Leuven Scholarships description, for Master’s programmes of KU Leuven’s Faculty of Science

KU Leuven PhD Scholarships for Developing Countries (Belgium)
KU Leuven offers PhD scholarships each year to excellent researchers from low-income countries through two programmes: the PhD Scholarships for Researchers from the South, for up to four years of full-time research in Leuven with a tuition waiver, bench fee and travel, and the Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships, a sandwich PhD with up to 24 months in Leuven at a research assistant’s net salary of about €2,400 a month. Candidates must first be admitted to a KU Leuven doctoral programme, and their KU Leuven supervisor submits the application by 4 February 2027. The scholarships cover PhD research in all fields at KU Leuven on topics relevant to development in the Global South.

Ghent University Doctoral Scholarships for the Global South (Belgium)
Ghent University’s Special Research Fund awards 15 sandwich PhD scholarships a year to promising candidates from Global South countries, who carry out half of their PhD at Ghent and half at a partner university at home. Ghent pays about €2,850 a month for the 24 months spent in Ghent, and the home institution must fund the other 24 months. The candidate, a Ghent supervisor and a home supervisor apply together by 9 February 2027. The scholarships cover PhD research in any field at Ghent University, with preference for topics relevant to the South-North context.

Foundation Scholarships »

Belgian American Educational Foundation Fellowships (Belgium)
The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) gives up to 15 fellowships a year to US citizens and permanent residents for up to 12 months of Master’s, PhD or postdoctoral study or research at a Belgian university or research institution. Each fellowship pays a stipend of $32,000 for Master’s and PhD students or $35,000 for postdoctoral fellows, plus health insurance in Belgium. The last deadline was 31 October 2026, and the next one is expected around October 2027. The fellowships cover study or research in any subject, from the sciences, engineering and medicine to the humanities, law and the social sciences.

See also the list of Top 25+ Scholarships in Europe for International Students