The ARES scholarship Belgium programme is open to nationals of a specific list of Belgian development-cooperation partner countries — and Nepal is on that list, which means Nepali students have genuine access to a fully-funded master’s route that most guides never mention. India isn’t on the ARES or VLIR-UOS partner country list, but that’s a policy classification, not a judgment on Indian applicants — and India has its own strong, fully-funded routes into Belgium that are arguably just as valuable, starting with KU Leuven’s Master Mind Scholarship, which is open to every nationality.
What the ARES Scholarship Belgium Programme Actually Is
ARES (the Academy of Research and Higher Education for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation) funds fully-funded specialised bachelor’s and master’s places at French-speaking Belgian institutions, covering tuition, a monthly living allowance of around €1,150, travel, and insurance. Its sister programme, VLIR-UOS, runs the equivalent for Dutch-speaking Flemish institutions, though this piece focuses specifically on ARES scholarship Belgium eligibility since that’s the relevant programme for Nepali applicants. Both exist specifically as part of Belgium’s official development cooperation policy — they’re funded by Belgium’s development cooperation budget, and eligibility is tied to a fixed list of partner countries Belgium has designated for that programme, not to academic merit alone.
Why Nepal Is Eligible and India Isn’t
This comes down entirely to which countries appear on ARES and VLIR-UOS’s designated partner-country lists, set by Belgium’s development cooperation policy rather than by either scholarship body on a case-by-case basis. Nepal currently appears on the ARES partner-country list, alongside a specific set of nations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America — Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bolivia, Peru, and others. India is not on this list, for either ARES or VLIR-UOS.
Missing out on ARES scholarship Belgium eligibility isn’t a reflection of India’s academic standing, the quality of Indian applicants, or India’s development needs — plenty of countries with stronger economic indicators than India appear on these lists, because partner-country selection follows Belgium’s specific bilateral cooperation history and diplomatic agreements, not a ranked assessment of need. It’s simply a different bucket that India, as a country, isn’t currently part of for this specific programme.
ARES Scholarship Belgium: What This Means If You’re Nepali
If you’re a Nepali student considering a specialised master’s or bachelor’s degree in a French-speaking Belgian institution — alongside the wider decision covered in our Belgium vs UK comparison for Indian and Nepali students — ARES is genuinely worth serious attention — it’s a fully-funded route that gets very little visibility precisely because so much study-abroad content is written with an Indian-only audience in mind and never mentions Nepal-specific eligibility at all. The equivalent VLIR-UOS programme for Flemish (Dutch-speaking) institutions currently doesn’t include Nepal on its list, so ARES scholarship Belgium eligibility, rather than VLIR-UOS, is the one to focus on for Nepali applicants.
Not Eligible for ARES Scholarship Belgium? What to Apply for Instead
Not being on the ARES or VLIR-UOS list doesn’t mean Belgium is closed to fully-funded study for Indian students. A few genuinely strong alternatives exist, and none of them are consolation prizes:
KU Leuven’s Master Mind Scholarship is open to students of every nationality, assessed purely on academic merit, and provides a €10,000 grant plus a full tuition fee waiver for eligible master’s programmes — one of the most prestigious merit-based scholarships in Belgium, with no partner-country restriction at all.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s scholarships, funded by the European Union rather than Belgium specifically, are open to Indian applicants and regularly awarded to them — 146 Indian students received Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the 2024–25 intake alone. Many Erasmus Mundus consortium programmes include a Belgian university as one of the host institutions.
University-specific scholarships and fee waivers at institutions like Ghent University, UCLouvain, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel are assessed on individual merit and financial need, and are open to Indian applicants without the partner-country restriction that governs ARES and VLIR-UOS.
For most Indian students, the Master Mind Scholarship is the closest equivalent in value to what ARES scholarship Belgium eligibility offers Nepali applicants — fully merit-based, genuinely competitive, and not gated by nationality at all.
ARES Scholarship Belgium vs the Indian Student Alternative, Side by Side
| Nepali Students | Indian Students | |
|---|---|---|
| ARES / VLIR-UOS | Eligible (ARES specifically) | Not eligible |
| Best fully-funded route | ARES specialised master’s/bachelor’s | KU Leuven Master Mind Scholarship |
| Basis for selection | Partner-country policy + academic merit | Academic merit only |
| Also worth exploring | Erasmus Mundus, university-specific scholarships | Erasmus Mundus, university-specific scholarships |
How EPA Global Helps
We work with both Indian and Nepali students to identify which specific scholarship route — starting with a clear-eyed check of ARES scholarship Belgium eligibility — actually applies to their nationality and academic profile, rather than pointing every student toward the same generic scholarship list regardless of whether they’re actually eligible for it. If you’re Nepali and ARES is a genuine option, we’ll help you build that application properly; if you’re Indian, we’ll help you build the strongest possible Master Mind or Erasmus Mundus application instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the ARES scholarship Belgium programme genuinely open to Indian students? No — ARES eligibility is limited to a specific list of Belgian development-cooperation partner countries, and India is not currently on that list.
Why is Nepal eligible for ARES but India isn’t? It comes down to which countries Belgium has designated as development-cooperation partner countries for this specific programme — a bilateral policy classification, not a reflection of academic merit or comparative need between the two countries.
If I don’t qualify for ARES scholarship Belgium as an Indian student, what’s the best fully-funded option instead? KU Leuven’s Master Mind Scholarship is a strong option — it’s merit-based, open to all nationalities, and provides a €10,000 grant plus a full tuition waiver for eligible master’s programmes.
Can Indian students get Erasmus Mundus scholarships that lead to Belgium? Yes. Erasmus Mundus is an EU-wide programme, not Belgium-specific, and India is an eligible nationality. Many Erasmus Mundus joint master’s consortia include a Belgian university as a host institution.
Is VLIR-UOS a better option than ARES for Nepali students? Not currently — VLIR-UOS’s ICP Connect programme’s eligible country list doesn’t include Nepal, while ARES’s list does, so ARES is the relevant programme for Nepali applicants specifically.
