The Postgraduate Certificate (PGC) in EU Policy Making is an online programme focusing on the European Union’s integration process, institutions, decision-making procedures and policies. Its curriculum can be flexibly followed over the course of one or two academic years.
Each year we make a careful selection of students from all over the world, based on the following requirements:
Diploma requirements
Candidates must possess a university degree equivalent to an undergraduate degree in social, economic or political sciences, business, law and/or contemporary history of at least 180 ECTS. If your degree is not within these disciplines, relevant work experience in these or related fields may qualify.
Language requirements
The Programme’s language of instruction is English. As a starting point, every student who applies must provide recent certified proof of proficiency in English, by means of one of the tests with the required minimum level or score indicated below:
TOEFL test: 79 (internet-based)
Academic IELTS: 6.5
Cambridge English Qualification Scale: 170
ITACE (at the VUB) – B2
Certificates and other proof of language tests may not pre-date the first enrolment by more than five years.
The candidate will be waived from having to produce recent certified proof of English language proficiency in the following cases:
If English is the candidate’s mother tongue
if the candidate has obtained a previous higher education degree of at least 60 ECTS entirely taught in English
if the candidate has successfully completed secondary education organised (by an educational establishment accredited) by the Flemish, French-speaking or German-speaking Community of Belgium.
In the case of the previous higher education degree, please include in your application a document issued by the university proving that all courses were taught in English. We also reserve the right to assess the level of language skills separately in unclear cases.
Motivation
Candidates are selected on the basis of an overall assessment of their profiles, including relevant professional experience and motivation. We therefore ask you to include acurriculum vitae in your application as well as a motivation letter in which you should highlight why you are considering this programme, how you would benefit from following the programme, and what skills and experiences you have that make you a good candidate.
You can already apply if you have not obtained your previous degree or language test score yet!
Even if you are still in the process of obtaining your previous degree, you can already apply and should indicate this information in the ‘Current and previous higher education section’ of the application form, mentioning the date (as precisely as possible) by which you will obtain the degree. If the Selection Committee then decides that you meet all other admission criteria you will be accepted on the condition that you provide us with your diploma and transcript at the very latest before the Programme starts and that you obtain the required grades to start the programme.
The same applies to the English language test certificate: if you have not obtained this certificate yet, you can nevertheless already apply. However, without a language test certificate included in your application, the Selection Committee can only perform an initial screening of your file on all other criteria. If positive, we can let you know if your application meets those criteria, but we can only issue an official acceptance letter once we have received your language test certificate with the required test result.
We therefore advise strongly to obtain your language test certificate as soon as possible, especially if you need a student visa for Belgium, as the acceptance letter is an essential document to submit in the visa process. Also, there are only limited dates when the official language tests are organised.
As soon as you have obtained your diploma or certificate, please send a certified copy of it to us by e-mail. In addition, please send us details of your grades from the previous academic years and mention on the application form the precise date by which you will obtain the degree and/or when you will sit the English test.
Deadlines
For enrolment in early July (starting with the Jean Monnet Summer School):
Early-bird deadline: 15 March Candidates applying by 15 March will receive a 10% early-bird discount, provided that they are accepted and pay by 31 March.
Application deadline: 15 April
For enrolment in late September (starting with the online courses):
Early-bird deadline: 1 August Candidates applying by 1 August will receive a 10% early-bird discount, provided that they are accepted and pay by 15 August.
Application deadline: 31 August
The deadlines above apply to both EEA and non-EEA applicants. Students who have obtained a previous diploma from a Belgian higher education institution, however, can apply until 30 September (23:59 in the CEST time zone at the latest), regardless of their nationality (EEA or non-EEA). Please note that for obvious reasons, this option is only valid if the student opts for a September start of the Programme.
How to apply
Before applying, be sure to check the admission requirements above. It is essential that you make sure that you meet these requirements before applying (or are in the process of meeting them in your current studies). Failure to meet these requirements will in any case lead to a rejected application.
If you are sure that you meet our requirements, then follow the two steps explained below:
Important guidelines and recommendations
The application process for the Postgraduate Certificate in EU Policy Making at the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) is done via the Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s (VUB) online application platform, CaLi.
For an application to be considered as completed and ready for review, students must pay a non-refundable 50 EUR application fee. Instructions on how to pay the fee will be provided in one of the sections of the online application platform.
Please note that in one of the steps of the online application, you will be asked to provide the name and contact details of two referees (no reference letter required), one of which should be academic.
When filling out your application on the VUB’s online application platform CaLi, please choose the following:
Course Load: Full or part-time
Career: Postgraduate Programme
Academic Programme: 00444
Academic Plan: 'Default track'
We recommend prospective students to apply as soon as possible to maximise the chances of being admitted. You can apply even if you will receive your degree or English language test certificate only later. You need to have completed all the requirements prior to the start of the Programme in September.
We accept and review applications starting in October.
The entry requirements applicable to this Programme are stipulated on this Programme’s page on the website of the Brussels School of Governance.
Our application deadlines (see below) are strict, meaning that all late applications will lead to the applicant not being able to start the Programme.
Students who have submitted a completed application via the online application platform CaLi, will be invited by email to submit some additional information related to their previous academic and/or professional activities in a separate webform. In this same webform, students will be asked if they opt for the 1-year or 2-year option of the programme.
Admission decisions are usually made within three weeks after receipt of the complete application. Once accepted, students must pay a € 1000 pre-registration fee to be deducted from tuition. In addition, they must provide a degree-verification confirming their diploma, as explained here.
