Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Campus Kortrijk

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Kulak (Catholic University of Leuven Campus Kortrijk), or Kulak is a university satellite campus in the city of Kortrijk (Courtrai) of the KU Leuven. It is the only university in the Belgian province of West-Flanders. Kulak stands for “Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Afdeling Kortrijk" (Catholic University of Leuven Branch Kortrijk). Although the university buildings were upgraded from a mere branch or dependence to a real campus in the late 1990s, the designation of "Kulak" is still used. The main reason for this is that it rolls off the tongue much easier than the new letter construction with its three consonants ending. Located in the city of Kortrijk in Flanders, the Kulak is officially a Dutch-speaking institution.

As the name implies, it is a university campus affiliated with the Catholic University of Leuven situated on the southern rim of Kortrijk. The idea behind this campus is twofold. First of all, Leuven always had a strong portion of its students coming from the West-Flanders region. Yet, many prospective students are wary of moving to Brabant for an adventure that would involve an almost complete rupture with their familiar surroundings. (Also many parents are uncomfortable with the idea of sending their son or daughter straight out of school to a town known for its student bars and parties.) Secondly, the majority of students who quit university do so in their first year. Typically, depending on the studies, the first two years (which give a general but thorough introduction into the whole scope of the subject) draw two to three times as many students as the last three or four (in which the student specializes in one specific field of his subject).

By giving their West-Flemish students the possibility to complete their first two years in Kortrijk, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) offers them a smaller, easier to manage environment closer to their homes (and to their parents' controlling influence). Leuven also benefits as more students in Kortrijk means lesser students in the chronically overcrowded first year lectures in Leuven. Students that have completed the first two years will still move to Leuven (or to any other university, for that matter) to specialize but by then they will be more mature, confident and up to the challenge of a true university town.