History
- The University of Leuven is founded on 4 December 1425
- Taking the lead, the city offers buildings and pays professors. Classes begin in October 1426. Leuven is one of the few comprehensive universities, with five faculties: theology (established in 1432), civil law, canon law, medicine and the arts. Until 1816 it remains the only university on the territory that becomes present-day Belgium.
Education
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) offers 43 bachelor's programmes and 187 master's programmes
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) faculties:
- Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences and Communication
- Faculty of Law and Criminology
- Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
- Faculty of Motor Sciences
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
- Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
- Faculty of Public Health
- Faculty of Science
- Faculty of Theology
- Faculty of bioscience engineering
- Faculté d'architecture, d'ingénierie architecturale, d'urbanisme
- Louvain School of Engineering
- Louvain School of Management
Research
- UCL is a comprehensive university, with a wide range of subjects taught at all levels, and has the largest number of students in the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
- The research carried out within its three sectors of activity cover various fields of humanities, medical science and science and technology. Both fundamental (or undirected) and applied (or directed) research is conducted at UCL with the same unwavering enthusiasm.
- The University follows an interdisciplinary approach through numerous joint activities involving different research teams, research institutes and sectors, and also works with several other universities and research centres in Belgium and abroad.
UCLouvain Key Statistics & Highlights
- #184 Ranking
- 37 Masters
- 53 Scholarships
- 1,862 Academic Staff
- 30,957 Students
- 5,689 Students (int'l)
- 16,778 Students (female)
- Public Institution Type
UCLouvain Overview
UCLouvain Scholarships
UCLouvain Scholarships
Below you will find scholarships related to UCLouvain. Distinction can be made between scholarships provided by the University and those provided by independent providers.
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UCLouvain Student Reviews & Awards
Based on 34 reviews
- 5 Star 10 Reviews
- 4 Star 16 Reviews
- 3 Star 7 Reviews
- 2 Star 0 Reviews
- 1 Star 1 Review
How Students Rated This University
- Admission Process 4.4
- Quality of Student Life 4.1
Needs better international support
It's a nice and cosey university, but as an international English speaking posddoc fellow, it was somewhat harder to get around due to the language. Majority of staff/students are local Belgian and/or French speaking people and they tend to socialize among themselves. University mostly sends emails only in French. Although very nice, it could be more internationalized. My position did not require lab/equipment so I cannot comment on that. Food was very nice, and Brussels in just 45 min by train.
Good double-degree experience
It was a good experience for an international student. I was a double degree student between Lithuania and Belgium, there are many restaurants around campus, however, a very limited number deliver if you're an introvert like me. It is not a city, so you shouldn't expect to have Brussels-grade facilities or options.
Academic excellence
Universit� Catholique de Louvain academic excellence is evident in its well-rounded core curriculum and diverse course offerings, which have profoundly impacted my worldview. The professors are experts in their fields and dedicated to student success, providing guidance and support when needed.
Global Student Satisfaction Awards 2025
The Global Student Satisfaction Awards empower students across the globe to determine the best universities of 2025. Universities with a score above 4.0 (out of 5) in any of the 7 award categories, receive Badges of Excellence. Congratulations!
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Admission ProcessHow simple was it to apply to your programme?
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Quality of Student LifeHow was your everyday life?
UCLouvain Rankings
Study Portals Meta Ranking
Studyportals ranking look at the scores of the most used ranking systems and present you with one number of how well this University performs.
World University Rankings
By Times Higher Education
Dropped 9 places compared to 2025
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
3 year trend World University Rankings
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 168 | 175 | 184 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
QS World University Rankings
By TopUniversities
Climbed 12 places compared to 2025
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
3 year trend QS World University Rankings
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 180 | 203 | 191 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
Academic Ranking of World Universities
By Shanghai Jiao Tong University
The university hasn’t moved up or down in the rankings over the past year.
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
3 year trend Academic Ranking of World Universities
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 201 | 201 | 201 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
Best Global Universities Rankings
By U.S. News & World Report
Dropped 5 places compared to 2025
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
3 year trend Best Global Universities Rankings
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 171 | 201 | 206 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
Housing services
- Room in a shared flat
- Room in an project-based accomodation
- Bedsit
- Studio
- Family accomodation
Library services
Arts and Letters Library
- Health Sciences Library
- UCL Mons Library
- Law Library
- Psychology and Educational Sciences Library
- Louvain Learning Center Hippocrate
- Louvain Learning Center Montesquieu
- Louvain Learning Center Saint-Georges
- Philosophy Library
- Psychology, Education and Motor Sciences Library
- Political, Social and Economic Sciences and Communication Library
- Science and Technology Library
- Theology Library
ICT services
All students and staff are entitled to a UCLouvain email address and access to computer labs and libraries. Moreover, all UCLouvain accommodations are equipped with a cable television connection with internet access.
Uniform wireless network using the latest security and ID technology for universal use.
Medical services
- Students enrolled at UCLouvain benefit from accident cover while pursuing academic activities (including when travelling between accommodation and the university, during study trips and internships, etc.) and third-party liability cover while they are pursuing academic activities.
- This kind of insurance must be taken out privately.
Campus life
- Louvain-La-Neuveshow
- Bruxelles Woluweshow
- Mons
- Tournai
- Bruxelles Saint-Gilles
Sports facilities
The UCLouvain Sport and Fitness Service offers more than 100 sports and fitness activities as well as modern fitness facilities. Gifted athletes can join the university teams (the Wolves) and compete at inter-university level. Louvain-la-Neuve is home to French-speaking Belgium’s largest sport and fitness centre: 25 sports rooms, 1 indoor fitness room, 1 indoor athletics track, 2 pools and 3 hectares of outside pitches which include 1 outdoor fitness area.
Student clubs
Student associations have formed around four types of activities:
- Student representation is assured by the Louvain Student General Assembly (AGL) at the university level; student offices at the faculty level; and the General Coordination of International Students (CGEI).
- An original idea that involves students sharing a flat and working together on a social, cultural or sport-related project in which they have a special interest, the so-called ‘kots à projet’ are home to nearly a thousand students each year.
- Regional organisations (‘Les Régionales’) reunite students of the same geographical region and promote their local folklore on campus.
- Faculty groups (‘Les Cercles’) bring together students of the same faculty.
Accreditation
Louvain School of Management receives a five-year accreditation in EQUIS.