This is a list of universities in Belgium. In Belgium, which is a federal state, the constitution attributes legislative power over higher education to the Communities.[1] The Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, the French Community and the German Community thus determine which institutes of higher education they organise or recognise, and which diplomas may be legally issued by these institutes.Below is a list of recognised institutes of higher education in Belgium sorted by the responsible Community.[2]
Five Flemish universities issue academic bachelor, master and doctoral degrees:
As a result of an international treaty between the Netherlands and Flanders, a co-operation between the Hasselt University (Flanders) and the Maastricht University (the Netherlands) is recognised as the
According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities[3] and the THES - QS World University Rankings,[4] four Flemish universities (University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University and KU Leuven) are among the top 150 universities in Europe and top 300 universities worldwide.
All recognised Flemish university colleges (hogescholen) are associated with a Flemish university. The following university colleges, which issue professional bachelor, academic bachelor's and master's degrees, are recognised by the Flemish government:
Antwerp University Association
university colleges associated with the University of Antwerp
Ghent University Association: university colleges associated with Ghent University
University Association Brussels
public university college associated with Vrije Universiteit Brussel
catholic university colleges associated with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Limburg University and College Association
public university college associated with Hasselt University
Finally, the Flemish government has recognised a number of "registered" institutes of higher education, which mostly issue specialised degrees or provide education mainly in a foreign language:
The French Community distinguishes between universities, colleges (Hautes Écoles) and arts colleges (Écoles supérieures des Arts). A list of all recognised institutes is maintained in the Annuaire de l'enseignement supérieur.[5]
According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, two of these universities (Université catholique de Louvain and Université libre de Bruxelles) are among the top 150 universities worldwide.
According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities,[6] two of these universities (Université catholique de Louvain and University of Liège) are among the top 150 universities in Europe and top 350 universities worldwide.
A single college is operated by the German-speaking Community of Belgium:
The school of the Belgian Armes Forces officers is organised by Belgium's Federal Government, and has the status of university:
The following institutes are not recognised by the Flemish or French speaking communities, but by a foreign country:
The following academic institutions offer accredited degree programmes which are externally validated by foreign institutions of higher education and learning:
Below are shown the international rankings of the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking universities in Belgium, and the number of times they rank in the top 200 of one of the six prominent global rankings:
| University | data-sort-type="number" | QS World (2025)[7] | data-sort-type="number" | THE World (2024)[8] | data-sort-type="number" | ARWU World (2023)[9] | data-sort-type="number" | USNWR World (2024–25)[10] | data-sort-type="number" | CWTS Leiden (2024)[11] | data-sort-type="number" | CWUR World (2024)[12] |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch-speaking universities | |||||||||||||
| Catholic University of Leuven | 63= | 45 | 86 | 48= | 61 | 103 | |||||||
| Ghent University | 169= | 115 | 84 | 109= | 98 | 129 | |||||||
| University of Antwerp | 267= | 161= | 201-300 | 213= | 361 | 297 | |||||||
| Free University of Brussels | 278= | 201–250 | 301-400 | 306= | 542 | 380 | |||||||
| University of Hasselt | 554= | 351–400 | 601-700 | 761= | 1074 | 832 | |||||||
| French-speaking universities | |||||||||||||
| Université catholique de Louvain | 203= | 168= | 201-300 | 201= | 349 | 223 | |||||||
| Université libre de Bruxelles | 230= | 201–250 | 101-150 | 260 | 485 | 242 | |||||||
| University of Liège | 396= | 301–350 | 301-400 | 381= | 490 | 290 | |||||||
| University of Mons | 781-790 | 501–600 | 801-900 | 935= | N.A. | 1028 | |||||||
| University of Namur | N.A. | 601–800 | N.A. | 1601= | N.A. | 1456 | |||||||
| Saint-Louis University, Brussels | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | |||||||
Notes:
N.A.: Not Applicable
a Number of times the university is ranked within the top 200 of one of the six global rankings.
b The university is ranked within the top 150 of all six global rankings.
c The university is ranked within the top 100 of all six global rankings.