KU Leuven: Belgium’s best is best for you

From high global rankings to a low cost of attendance, vivid student memories to sterling career prospects, KU Leuven has so much to offer.

Imagine yourself at KU Leuven

You want the best degree for your money, but you also want a vibrant student atmosphere and life-changing opportunities. Good news, you found it! Take a quick look and you’ll agree, KU Leuven is one of the world’s great universities and the right place for you.

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It’s a bold claim, but it’s accurate and respected around the world. Let’s start with some hard numbers: KU Leuven is among the best 100 universities in the world according to both Times Higher Education World Rankings and QS World University Rankings. All of KU Leuven’s disciplines in our 15 academic faculties proudly belong to the top 100 of their field. Furthermore, KU Leuven has been ranked by Reuters as most innovative university in Europe in each of their rankings since 2016. Nevertheless, KU Leuven keeps tuition fees low. That’s because higher education is highly valued in Belgium and subsidised by the government, which results in a price/quality ratio at the very top end of the best top-100 universities. See for yourself: find your desired academic programme on our tuition fee calculator and be pleasantly surprised.

You may be thinking, “That’s all great, but every highly-ranked university values innovation and research the same, right?” Nope. Education at KU Leuven is distinctly research-based, which means students will learn from the same professors who are performing the ground-breaking research you read about in the press. Whether in the arts or sciences, new insights are instantly integrated into classes and students are encouraged to perform their own research and turn their great ideas into reality. KU Leuven KICK organises challenges, provides coaching and has a wide array of options to develop your skills as a future entrepreneur. In our Learning Garage, students are challenged to build a business case involving a specific technology. All of this made possible by the incredible facilities at your disposal. Our university libraries contain collections that are amongst the most extensive and important in Europe. And to keep our standing as the most innovative university in Europe, we invest heavily in our workspaces and laboratories, ensuring you’ll always have the right tools to bring your education to life.

At KU Leuven, being the best means more than just rankings, it’s an approach that also extends to student life. We also want our students to happy, healthy and comfortable whilst studying in Belgium, starting from day one.

We have a welcome desk at the Belgian national airport to help you get to your campus. Once here, you’ll almost certainly be amongst students from your home country, as KU Leuven ranks in the top 50 of most international universities worldwide, with staff and students from over 150 different nationalities.

Throughout your studies, our student services can help you with practical matters like housing, transportation and study locations. For your mental and physical wellbeing, we have doctors, psychologists and mindmates available.

Our university also strives for diversity and inclusion and is committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment for all students. And when you’re ready to graduate, our Student Career Centre helps students make the transition to the job market, offering study internships, volunteer work, job fairs, help with writing your CV and much more.

Whilst in Belgium, you’ll want a vibrant student life and experiences, and KU Leuven makes that possible. Our main campus is situated in Leuven, a city characterised by its beautiful architecture and dynamic social scene. With almost 50,000 students in a city of 100,000 inhabitants, Leuven is the consummate student city. And good news: although the local language is Dutch, just about everyone speaks English. Additionally, Belgium is a hub of European culture, with major international cities like London, Paris, Köln and Amsterdam all less than 2 hours away by train. The nearby international airport in Brussels connects you to the rest of the world. This means international students at KU Leuven have the luxury of not only being able to discover Belgium, but also a whole list of neighbouring countries at the same time.

“KU Leuven is a community of people; a huge diverse international students community that provides a friendly environment away from home. You’ll have abundant opportunities to enrich your experience outside the lecture rooms and laboratories. Leuven is a cultural beautiful city with a vibrant atmosphere and rich heritage” – Tafadzwa Makara

Make your academic dreams a reality

Now that you know the facts, imagine yourself in Belgium, bringing your academic and personal goals to life. No matter which aspect of KU Leuven you find most appealing, there’s one thing that would make our university even better: you!

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