Composed of this 60- or 120-credit programme (180 for medicine), typically over two years (three for medicine), earns the student a master’s degree.
Eligibility to pursue a master’s degree is based on prior completion of 180 course credits. Holders of an haute école (non-university higher education institution) bachelor’s degree can become eligible by completing bridge courses, while more experienced individuals who are ‘going back to school’ can turn to the Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE) process.
Two types of master’s programme exist: 120-credit and 60-credit. UCLouvain offers 99 120-credit master’s programmes (with 181 available foci) and 32 60-credit master’s programmes.
A master’s programme is a process of knowledge specialisation and in-depth study. It enables the student to gain deeper insights and, by choosing a focus, to acquire the necessary skills and expertise to pursue a professional career, teach or conduct research.
- Master’s programme bridge courses. Recipients of an haute école bachelor’s degree can become eligible to apply for a master’s programme via the system of bridge courses. A French Community of Belgium decree determines a) the master’s programmes for which applicants are eligible based on degrees already obtained and b) any admission conditions (for example, on the condition of first earning additional credit). If you’re already a UCLouvain student and wish to pursue a master’s in a field that differs from your bachelor’s, you may be able to do so by means of programme adaptation and any transferable credits.
- Most UCLouvain master’s programmes include internship possibilities (teaching, clinical, professional, research). Such immersion in professional life will help the student learn about the world of work, develop new skills and directly participate in his or her socio-professional integration. Other channels of socio-professional integration include recruitment preparation workshops and career planning support, the latter at both university and faculty levels (consult the Information and Orientation Centre).
- Another UCLouvain advantage is its emphasis on learning languages throughout the master’s programme, which will empower the student to achieve genuine multicultural and professional integration. UCLouvain also offers several programmes taught entirely in English.
- International mobility and discovering other academic environments are integral parts of a UCLouvain education. UCLouvain has agreements with over 400 institutions in Flanders, Europe and the rest of the world. These agreements allow as many students as possible to live abroad during their studies within the framework of exchanges and joint degree programmes.
- Finally, students with a specific profile (athletes; artists; entrepreneurs; students with a disability, serious illness or disorder) can take advantage of a particular status (part of the ‘Programme for Students with a Specific Profile’, French acronym ‘PEPS’) that allows for special arrangements in their university curriculum.