The language border and its impact on higher education
In 1963, the language border in Belgium was established. North of that border, in Flanders, Dutch becomes the administrative language. To the south, it is French. But an exception was made for the Catholic University of Leuven: it was allowed to remain bilingual. This led to fierce protests, resulting in the fall of the government. The subsequent government includes the split of the University of Leuven in its governing programme, and in one stroke also provides for the ‘real and complete split’ of the Brussels university institution. On 28 May 1970, King Baudouin signs a law giving VUB the status of a legal person. Since then, VUB is a separate entity from ULB - even though at ULB classes have been held in Dutch for a long time, and doctorates in the Faculty of Law have doubled since 1935.
