Admissions

Application Procedures for Admission to the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies

All students applying for admission to the Theology Programmes in English must apply online.

Please follow the instructions and different steps on the webpage (http://www.kuleuven.be/application/?js=1) carefully:

- Step 1: Request a Guest Account

- Step 2: Download the Application Form

- Step 3: Sending the Application Form

- Step 4: Upload of attachments - overview of the requested documents:

1.   A copy of your diplomas and transcripts of academic records of all course work beyond secondary school. Academic records must show the dates of enrolment, all subjects or courses, units, credits or hours, and grades in each subject, as well as the overall result and the rank in class. Candidates must also submit official evidence of the conferral of all degrees, diplomas, or professional titles and the date of the formal conferral (month and year). All documents should be certified as true and original by either the educational institution that issued them or by the local Belgian diplomatic office. Photocopies and faxes are not accepted. Please add a document explaining the grading system of your country (i.e. comparing the grades to numeric score). If you still need to complete your studies at the time of application, please send intermediate transcripts along with your application. Please do note that your final transcripts will have to be submitted upon enrolment.

2.   Translation of your diploma and official transcripts
If your documents are not in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian or Spanish, please arrange for these documents to be translated by a registered translator. These documents must be also be certified by the educational institution that issued them or by a Belgian diplomatic office.

3.   All non-native English applicants must submit a certificate proving their proficiency in English. The tests accepted by KU Leuven are TOEFL certificate sent by ETS, an IELTS certificate sent by The British Council. Only original score cards sent directly by either ETS or The British Council are accepted.
- ETS: please use university code 0749 and, if required, department code 99
- The British Council: please request the score card to be sent to the International Admisisons and Mobility Unit, International Office, KU Leuven

4.   A passport photograph and a photocopy of the identity page of your passport

5.   Three letters of recommendation are required. Each letter has to be written by an academic person who is familiar with the candidate's academic work and ambitions. Clerics and religious must include a letter from their Bishop or Provincial Superior stating permission to study in Leuven and with an indication of the student’s tasks after graduation in Leuven.

6.   Candidates are to provide a sample of their best written work in theology, religion or human sciences.

7.   Candidates for the Doctoral Programme in Theology must submit a doctoral project proposal.

Each attachment corresponds to a certain document type and must be uploaded in PDF format. The Application Form will be archived as well and will be available in display mode. All other attachments can be deleted and uploaded again if necessary. Only the certified copies of the diplomas and transcripts need to be sent by post.

- Step 5: Sending the certified copies

When you have completed the Online Application Form and uploaded the relevant documents, please send the printout of the first page of the Application Form and the certified copies of your diplomas and transcript of records in hard copy to:

International Office, KU Leuven
International Admissions and Mobility Unit
Naamsestraat 63 – bus 5410
3000 Leuven - Belgium

by regular mail, express mail or registered mail. All academic documents should be certified as true and original by either the educational institution that issued them (in a sealed institution envelope) or by the local Belgian diplomatic office. If you are still preparing for an examination at the time of application, you are requested to send – as soon as the results are available – a certificate attesting to the results. Copies of diplomas and transcript of records sent via email or fax will not be accepted. Please note that the application documents cannot be copied, borrowed, returned to the applicant, or sent elsewhere.

- Step 6: Payment of application fee

All non-EEA applications require an application processing fee of EUR 75 (excluding any possible bank transfer fees). VLIR ICP-scholarship applicants do not have to pay the application fee. Applicants for the predoctoral or doctoral programmes do not have to pay the application fee either.

- Step 7: Follow-up of your file

You can follow up the status of your application as soon as you have successfully uploaded your Application Form and your attachments.

Once your application has been processed by the International Admissions and Mobility Unit of the KU Leuven, it will be forwarded to the Faculty's Admissions Committee for assessment.

Every year, the Faculty’s Committee for Study Allowances awards financial support to a limited number of Master students. Only those who have been accepted as fulltime students are eligible for this financial support. Preference is given to applicants who are 30 years of age or less, in possession of an excellent academic record, and with sufficient knowledge of the English language. It is the policy of the Faculty of Theology to provide study allowances only for the Master programmes. Where students meet the requirements for the Doctoral Programme in Theology, the Faculty can request continued financial assistance on their behalf from a number of alternative sponsoring agencies. Generally speaking, the financial support is targeted at students from Third World countries and Central and Eastern Europe. However, the Faculty Authorities are also willing to discuss the situation of First World students with limited resources. Students in the regular programmes, already studying at the Faculty of Theology, KU Leuven, will, as a rule, not be considered for financial support. An application for financial support can be added to the application for admission and should consist of the following:

- a C.V.

- a letter addressed to the Committee for Study Allowances formulating your request for financial assistance and with some background information regarding your financial situation

- a letter of motivation why you have chosen for studies at the KU Leuven and what you want to achieve with these studies

- a letter from a (possible) future employer

Deadline for financial applications is March 1, but it is advisable to send in your application (for admission and financial support) as soon as possible.

There exists an agreement between the Faculty of Theology and the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels which makes it possible for a number of doctoral student-priests studying at the Faculty of Theology to work as weekend-priests in parishes belonging to the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Condition to be considered for this agreement: sufficient knowledge of the Flemish language (to be acquired during the master studies). This weekend-work is remunerated and enables the theology student-priests to support themselves financially. If interested, please address a letter to: Prof. Lieven Boeve, Dean, Faculty of Theology, Sint-Michielsstraat 4 box 3100, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Some other institutions granting financial support to students (mainly priests): 1. Kirche in Not/Ostpriesterhilfe: www.acn-intl.org - 2. Renovabis: www.renovabis.de (Eastern Europe) - 3. Adveniat: www.adveniat.de (Latin America and the Caribbean)

The official deadline for applications set by the KU Leuven is March 1. Late applications  will still be considered if it is possible for the applicant to arrive in Leuven before the classes begin during the last week of September.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: admissions@theo.kuleuven.be