Study grants for higher education

In order to obtain a study grant, certain conditions must be met regarding your nationality, your income, the educational institution and te study programme.

Nationality

You must be a Belgian national on 31 December of the school year for which you apply for the grant. If you are not a Belgian national, you or your parents must have lived in Belgium for some time and must be working, or have already worked in Belgium.

Income

The decision to award you a study grant depends on, amongst other things, your family situation and your income. This includes your salary as well as, for example, any benefits and alimony payments you may be receiving.

Educational institution and study programme

• ​​​​​​You must follow a recognised study programme at an institution that is recognised, financed or funded by the Flemish Community. You can check this in the Higher Education Register (Hogeronderwijsregister) (in Dutch)(opens in new window). Some study programmes are not eligible for a study grant. Specific conditions apply to studying abroad (in Dutch)(opens in new window).
• Your study programme must lead to a diploma/degree.
• You must still have sufficient study grant credit.

If you want Study Grants to start a file for you and investigate whether you are eligible for a study grant, you can set up your profile in the e-portal for study grants(opens in new window) from 2 June prior to the academic year for which you want a grant:

• On the e-portal you enter your contact details and bank account number.
• You indicate that you would like a file (either just the current academic year, or every year for as long as you study).
• You can grant a parent living at the same address access to follow up the file.

Please note: in higher education, the student is the person entitled to a possible study grant and is also responsible for arranging the file. Only the student can set up his profile.

As soon as the file has been started, you will receive an e-mail with the request to check and confirm your data and send additional information if necessary. You’ll be informed as soon as the file is being processed.

Do you need help setting up your profile or completing your data? Check out the various ways to get help (in Dutch)(opens in new window).

The amount of the study grant depends on different factors. These factors include, amongst others, your family situation, your study programme and whether you will stay in a dormitory or not. On the website of the Afdeling Studietoelagen (Study Grants Division), you will find more information on the amounts of the study grants(opens in new window) (available in Dutch only). You can also find the maximum processing time for your file there.

If you are struggling financially, you can request an advance on your study grant (in Dutch)(opens in new window) from your educational institution’s student services.