University students in Belgium have staged fresh protests against rising tuition fees, education budget cuts and government reforms, warning that increasing financial barriers could make higher education inaccessible to thousands of young people.
Students from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) gathered at the university’s Solbosch campus in Brussels on Friday, November 13, demanding free, affordable and high-quality education. Carrying banners and chanting slogans, protesters condemned what they described as increasingly elitist education policies that threaten equal access to universities.
One of the main concerns was a 43% increase in annual tuition fees, from €835 to €1,194. According to figures from the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the increase affects approximately 58% of students enrolled in higher education.
The demonstrators also opposed proposed changes to the Paysage decree, which governs the organisation of higher education institutions, as well as reductions in education spending across the French-speaking Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Students organised a symbolic campaign at the campus entrances to highlight what they described as competing government priorities. One entrance featured military camouflage and the slogan “elitist education + war”, while another promoted the demand for “free, high-quality education”.
The demonstration also criticised the federal government’s planned €34 billion investment in military spending by 2034, arguing that greater priority should be given to education and public services rather than military expenditure.
The protest was organised by the university’s Bureau des étudiants administrateurs and the student collective ULB contre-attaque. Organisers urged students, university staff and education trade unions to participate in a wider demonstration scheduled for November 17, coinciding with International Students’ Day.
The students also expressed support for a November 20 day of action against voluntary military service, organised by the Service for Peace platform.
The latest demonstration follows weeks of student mobilisation across Belgium against rising education costs and proposed reforms. Earlier protests in Brussels and Liège also highlighted concerns about financial pressures on students, education accessibility and the future of public universities.
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The growing opposition reflects broader concerns among Belgium’s student community that higher tuition fees and reduced public investment could deepen educational inequality and place university education beyond the financial reach of lower- and middle-income families.
