KU Leuven Welcomes a Record 60,981 Students for the Academic Year
Now that registrations for this academic year have been closed, KU Leuven is taking stock. In total, around 61,000 students registered, approximately the same as last year. The number of generation students exceeds the 9,000 mark for the first time at 9,330. The campuses outside Leuven such as Kortrijk, Sint-Katelijne Waver and Brussels are also popular with these new students.
KU Leuven can welcome 60,981 students this academic year, approximately the same as last year (61,049). With 9,330 generation students (students who register for higher studies for the first time), KU Leuven exceeds the 9,000 mark for the first time (last year 8,934). “This increase is in line with the population growth in our country on the one hand and with further internationalization efforts on the other,” explains Rector Luc Sels. “With a total of 12,426 international students (+6.3%), more than one in five of our students is an international student. We are succeeding in putting ourselves on the map globally as a university and thus attracting international talent that is crucial to our labor market.”
KU Leuven throughout Flanders
The majority of students opt for a course on the campuses in Leuven (48,241). But other campuses also remain popular. In Kortrijk, for example, 10.1% more generational students will start their first encounter with higher education. The Brussels campus (+11.1%) and the campus in Sint-Katelijne Waver (+18.2%) are also welcoming significantly more generation students this academic year.
Focus on a good start
In the 2021-2022 academic year, KU Leuven introduced a milestone system. The university wants to motivate and support new bachelor’s students to complete the first phase of their education in one or, if necessary, two academic years and to obtain their bachelor’s degree in a period of three to four years. This introduction is now visible in the registration figures. “Students are more likely to question their study choice and receive guidance to reorient if necessary. Students who achieve the first milestone then have all the basis to successfully obtain their bachelor’s degree,” says Rector Sels.
Starting quota for medicine
Since this academic year, more students have been allowed to start training as a doctor or dentist, a decision that translates into higher marks for new students in medicine (+26.4%) and dentistry (+18.4%). Law (+14%) and the English-language bachelor’s degree in European Studies (+55.8%) are also doing very well with new students.
Some numbers in a row
- Total number of students: 60,981 (-0.11%)
- Bachelor: 27,337 students (+1.7%)
- Master: 20,478 students (-1.6%)
- Master-after-master: 3,414 students (+0.7%)
- International: 12,426 students (+6.3%)