HELP US KEEP OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WITH US;  HELP US PROTECT ARTS EDUCATION !! 

In October 2025, the Flemish government approved a new budget plan for 2026, announcing 81.3 million in funding cuts in higher education. This will have dramatic consequences for all higher education institutions and their communities. Amongst other things, the government is suppressing almost all funding for non EEA students, which means these students' tuition fee risks to increase to 13,500 FOR ALL CURRENT STUDENTS AND 25,000 FOR ALL INCOMING! IN THE CONSERVATOIRE; THIS REPRESENTS 63 OF US. 

THIS PUTS SOME OF OUR STUDENTS AT RISK OF NOT CONTINUING THEIR STUDIES! 

READ OUR OPEN LETTER AND SIGN TO STAND AGAINST THE APPROVAL OF THE DECREE!!

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WHO CAN PAY CAN STAY - But who can, really?

Dear Flemish citizens, dear friends of the arts sector, this letter is sent out to you on behalf of the higher arts education community. It is with a lot of incomprehension, anger and sadness that we learned about the Flemish government's recent decision to implement significant cuts targeting higher education. As a community, we feel deeply concerned about the indubitable damage that this will provoke upon higher education, but unfortunately particularly so within art schools, affecting fellow studying artists, and our field in general - if we let this all passively unfold. We therefore find ourselves with the urgency to take action, to try and counter the hurricane, to protect our field and its people. As artists and fellow citizens, we would like to call for your support in doing so.  

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No-one could deny it now: the current context of wars, conflicts and global crises creates sociopolitical as well as economical struggles worldwide. With no surprise, Flanders isn’t an exception to that: its economy is under pressure, leading the government to look for ways to keep its society afloat. 

And so a somehow familiar song is to be heard again: we need to make savings - and we need to do so immediately.

How and where these savings should be made is another question. 

In October 2025, the Flemish government approved the 2026 Programme Decree, which determines the cuts to be implemented. It turns out education is a major target: the decree states 81,3 millions will be saved on higher education. After years of budget decrease and underfunding, this latest step makes educational institutions’ responsibility towards democratic accessibility and equal opportunities definitely unreachable. And it leaves us, as a student community, in a state of shock towards the drastic damages that our friends, our colleagues, our teachers, and our whole microcosms will have to face. 

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Let’s first look at the general picture, in concrete terms. The decree establishes, amongst other things:

• The abolition of Brussels-specific funds - a specific financial support system granted by Flanders in Brussels to help non-Dutch speakers access Dutch-language higher education. Without linguistic and social bridges, those who do not speak Dutch as a first language will likely struggle to enter higher education - these students unfortunately disproportionately come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds too.
• 34 million euros cuts on grants or study allowances by adding additional eligibility criteria. As such, students over the age of 30 will lose their entitlement to a grant. Students who take fewer than 54 credits because they have to combine work and study, for example, will also miss out. In total, nearly 20,000 students will be affected by these measures along their academic paths. 
• 30.7 million euros cuts in public funding for non-EEA students. This will happen through a so-called capping of subsidies at 2% of the student population per school. In clearer terms, if their proportion of non-EEA students represents more than 2% of their total number of students, educational institutions will effectively have to take on all costs related to these students. This will lead to a significant increase of tuition fees for non-EEA students; in some cases, it amounts to a fivefold increase in the price they must pay. 

Very importantly: these measures are envisioned to take full effect in 2026. 

The effects are deeply distressing; 

• In all cases, it is the most precarious student who will materially suffer first - those with side jobs, those in need of bridging programs, those who hold limited visas, etc. Logically, this means higher education becomes mostly accessible for a specific wealthy class.
• These measures will make Flanders hardly accessible to students outside the EEA - or again only to a very specific wealthy class.
• Not only are the students targeted - but staff. The approved decisions might trigger program cuts or even the cancellation of certain tracks, which in turn puts university employees (both academic, administrative, and technical staff) under risk of significant shrinking. In fact, universities have warned that losses might fly up to 350 full-time positions, across the whole sector. 

In a few summarizing words, as far as the wider picture of our society is concerned: by massively suppressing financial and social support for accessing higher education, there will necessarily be fewer graduates. As citizens in need of such support are the first ones to be excluded, a disproportionate amount of graduates will come from the wealthier social classes. If  the presence of non-EEA students stops being supported, socio-cultural sharing will decrease, and so will our society’s cultural diversity and knowledge. 

The conclusion is clear: this decree is synonymous with increased cultural and financial precarity - widening social inequalities, and cultural gaps. 

All of the listed consequences damage the exchange of knowledge and the research development that our higher education institutions need to focus on in a rapidly changing world, and even more so considering the urgent socio-political difficulties that we are facing worldwide. Now is the time to get together, strengthen each other, support each other with all our expertises so we can construct another future beyond violence. 

But all the listed consequences equal shrinking of future perspectives, for individuals, for communities, and societies equally.

These are absurd struggles to drive a society into.

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Now let’s take an even closer look at the arts sector. Though the picture is not looking good for any of us in higher education, it is the arts departments that unfortunately will be most directly damaged. 

Tuition fee raises for non-EEA students primarily affect art courses: as the only courses taught in English, and because the fields of the arts function essentially through inter-cultural exchanges, they attract a very diverse map of students. In fact, the Royal Conservatoire and the Royal Fine Arts Academy of Antwerp host far more than 2% non-EEA students - which means they will lack a lot of funding to support them, starting next academic year.

The Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, in its mission statements, strives for a « vibrant international environment for both professional artists as well as emerging talent. » But our 63 non-EEA students will now have to pay a fee of 13 500 euros a year (as opposed to 8696 euros in previous years - a price that already puts some of them in difficulty, and already implies a restricted access to Flemish courses for non-EEA citizens). This means they might not be able to finish their studies, and consequently lose their visas. This in turn signifies letting go of a life they have started to build here, to return to their countries in potentially dangerous or precarious situations - and very often in contexts where they have no prospect for practicing their art. 

Paradoxically, as artists, we feel it more than ever: though not always recognized as such, the field of arts is essential to resist and hold on at the edge of the world. It is a field that deeply relies on its community - one that is highly international. Many of our international students turn into international working artists that then stay in Belgium and deepen the Flemish influence over the global art scene. Take the example of the Flemish Wave: its renowned success throughout the 80s was affected with and by its international inspirations, in turn, establishing Belgium as a gathering point for multicultural artists. Maintaining the strength of the arts is maintaining its community and allowing it to keep circulating. The professional field is already suffering from cuts that make it increasingly difficult to navigate and expand, let’s not add the educational one to the struggle. 

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Quite some articles or studies have already been written to denounce the 2026 Programme Decree. A lot of them widely focused on its effect on the health and prosperity of the Flemish economy - understandably so. But let’s not forget that it is people’s lives that stand behind the numbers. If it is important to protect our economy, it is even more urgent to protect other human beings and their lives that are about to be affected in an alarming way. Much beyond an economic concern, this is a human one. 

Because this is not only a few individuals’ problem, but a societal one, a collective one, affecting the health and inclusivity of our whole communities, that we reach out with this open letter. 

Our demands to the Flemish government are such:

• Compensatory funding for programmes exceeding the 2% threshold
• Protection of arts programmes uniquely depended on international diversity
• Evaluation of negative impact during the 2026 implementation year to protect democratization of higher education.
• Commitment to reverse or review these measures in the next budget cycle, including
  • No cutbacks on scholarships
  • A revision of the increase in the current registration fees to compensate for the savings
  • An engagement in dialogue with students, educational institutions and experts in the field

First as artists, but also as citizens, we call for you to join this petition, to allow our fellow artists from abroad to keep reaching all the way here, so that we can continue learning, meeting, exchanging, resisting together.  Let’s not let our worlds become further apart than they already are, let’s not let arts lose their width.

With love and hope.