Non-recognised institutions
In Belgium, the Constitution guarantees freedom of education, which refers both to the freedom of choice made by citizens to receive training and to the freedom of any operator to offer training. This means that, in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, there are official establishments, but also other private institutions that also offer courses presented as higher education.
However, you should bear in mind that not all private establishments are recognised. If you study at one of these non-recognised establishments, the diploma you receive at the end will have no legal value. This means that you will not be able to apply for jobs that require a diploma recognised by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. There is also a strong risk that this 'degree' will not be recognised abroad.
Some of these public schools are even fraudulent. They use terms that are protected in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation ("university", "university college", "arts college", etc.), they provide training of questionable quality and they charge very high registration fees and/or tuition fees (hint: apart from a few exceptions, the legal minimum is €835), etc.
Only those institutions and programmes included in our search engine are recognised. If the institution or programme you’re looking for can't be found in it, be careful!