The tertiary education system has been transformed from an elite-oriented system to a system
providing tertiary education to a much larger share of each new generation. This re-orientation has
contributed to raising education attainment in Belgium. However, in many respects the organisation of
the tertiary education systems has not been changed fundamentally and economic incentives are only
to a minor extent in place for securing the supply and quality of tertiary education. The system has
come under strain, as revealed in the high failure rate among first-year students and the high incidence
of subject change. There is thus a need for the system to adapt to be able to continue to support the
improvement in educational attainment.
