While some English-language Master's programmes have been available at Belgian universities for a while, the growing demand for more internationally-oriented programmes is proving difficult for Flemish higher education institutions.
To ensure that Dutch-language programmes don't disappear, the Flemish Government decided that universities in Flanders can offer a limited number of Master's programmes in another language, but that a Dutch-language alternative has to exist alongside it.
While this rule can be circumvented with a well-reasoned application, Flanders has recently rejected a package of such requests for English-language Master's programmes in engineering for the second time in a row – to the universities' disappointment.
Still, demand for English-language Master's programmes has been rising across universities, Jan Danckaert, Chancellor of the VUB in Brussels and Chair of the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) told my colleague Lauren Walker.
This is not just true for engineering: English-language courses are now more in demand among all students, including Belgians who speak Dutch, and in all programmes.
"They like to be embedded in an international educational environment while studying their Master's degree," Danckaert explained. "This international educational context has become a condition they take into account when choosing their degree, because they realise that their professional lives will continue in this way."
Thoughts? Let @Maajtee (or @LaurenWalkerH) know.
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