Studying in France

What a year costs

Standard registration fees at public universities, 2026-27, which apply to EU/EEA/Swiss nationals and to exempt categories:

• Licence (bachelor): €178
• Master: €255
• Doctorate: €397
• Public engineering schools: €630

Differential fees for non-EU students, 2026-27:

• Licence: €2,902
• Master: €3,950
• Doctorate: €398, doctoral students are not subject to the differential rate

The waiver position changed on 19 May 2026, and this is the important part. Since differential fees were introduced in 2019, the large majority of French public universities voted to exempt essentially all their non-EU students, so in practice most paid €178 or €255. That is no longer permitted. Universities may still grant exemptions, but only within a capped share of their enrolled foreign students: 30% for 2026-27, 25% for 2027-28, 20% thereafter.

Students granted an exemption before 21 May 2026 keep it if they continue the same programme at the same institution.

So budget €2,902 or €3,950 and treat an exemption as a possibility, not a default, and ask the institution in writing how its quota is allocated.

Exempt by right, outside the quota: EU/EEA/Swiss nationals, Andorrans and Quebec residents, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, holders of a "vie privée et familiale" permit, students already enrolled in French public higher education in 2018-19, doctoral students, Erasmus+ and exchange students, and French government scholarship holders.

CVEC, €105 for 2026-27, compulsory and payable before enrolment.

Grandes écoles and private institutions are a separate regime. Public engineering grandes écoles charge around €630. Private and consular institutions, such as business schools, private engineering schools and private "bachelor" providers, are outside the regulated scale and typically charge €6,000 to €18,000+ a year.

Living costs. The only figure with statutory force is €877.50 a month, which is a floor for the visa, not a comfortable budget.

• Paris and inner Île-de-France: €1,200-1,600, dominated by rent; a studio commonly €800-1,200
• Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lille, Nantes, Montpellier: €800-1,100
• Smaller university towns: €700-950

Two genuine offsets, both official. The €1 CROUS university-restaurant meal is now open to all students, not only scholarship holders: that cuts a food budget substantially if you are near a campus restaurant. And CROUS operates over 155,000 subsidised housing units at rents far below the private market, though allocation prioritises scholarship holders and demand vastly exceeds supply.

The visa

VLS-TS étudiant, a long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit, issued for four months to a year. No separate residence permit application in the first year.

Études en France (EEF) is mandatory for students resident in roughly 73-75 designated countries. It combines the academic application, language verification and a compulsory Campus France interview, and feeds into the consular appointment.

• Visa fee: €50 in EEF countries, €99 elsewhere
• The EEF procedure fee is separate and set per country, for India it is INR 20,000 from 1 August 2026
• The money: €877.50 a month. This rose from €615 on 1 August 2026, a 43% increase. Many Campus France country pages still display €615. Anyone relying on the old figure will be refused. The requirement is waived if you passed a concours at a state-contracted institution.

Validation on arrival. You must validate the VLS-TS online within three months of arriving, and the tax is €100, doubled from €50 on 1 May 2026. Validation is what makes your stay lawful and lets you re-enter across the Schengen border. Missing the three-month window is a serious problem.

Renewal, request between four and two months before expiry. Taxes also rose on 1 May 2026: €150 first issuance, €100 renewal.

Consular decisions commonly take two to four weeks after the appointment, but the EEF procedure before it runs for months. Start six to nine months before your intake.

Working while you study

964 hours a year, 60% of the legal annual working time, roughly 20 hours a week averaged. No separate authorisation needed. Your employer must file a declaration with the prefecture at least two working days before you start. The allowance resets with each new permit period, and exceeding it risks non-renewal.

Algerian students are governed by the 1968 Franco-Algerian accord, not this rule: limited to 50% of annual working time in their sector, and they must obtain a work authorisation before starting.

After you graduate

The route now formally called "recherche d'emploi ou création d'entreprise", still widely called the APS.

• Master's graduates or equivalent only
• 12 months, not renewable
• Apply from within France if the diploma was obtained in the past 12 months while holding a student card; graduates who have left may apply from abroad for up to four years
• You may take salaried employment during it, with the employer exempt from applying for a work authorisation, provided the job is linked to your studies and pays at least €2,800.53 gross a month
• Cost: €150 in France

Graduates with a job offer already in hand can skip it and move straight to a salarié card or, above certain thresholds, a multi-year Passeport Talent.

Language

Over 1,600 degree programmes are taught entirely in English, 115+ undergraduate, 1,300+ master's, plus short and summer courses. The catalogue is at taughtie.campusfrance.org. The offer skews heavily to master's level and to business schools and engineering grandes écoles; English-taught bachelor's options are comparatively few and often at private institutions.

English requirements are set per institution, typically IELTS 6.0-6.5, with business and engineering master's often at 6.5 or 7.0.

For French-taught degrees, B2 is the standard expectation, evidenced by DELF B2, DALF, TCF or TEF. Language-level verification is a formal part of the enrolment procedure for non-EU applicants.

Even on an English-taught programme, functioning French is close to essential. The prefecture, the CAF housing-allowance application, opening a bank account, leases, guarantors, doctors and most part-time work are all conducted in French. A2-B1 is the realistic minimum, and the residence bureaucracy in particular is unforgiving of students who cannot read French administrative correspondence.

When to apply

The dominant intake is September/October. A limited January/February intake exists, mainly at private business and engineering schools; public universities rarely admit mid-year.

• Études en France, campaigns typically open October-November and close January-March, varying by country, with a compulsory interview. Dates are published by each country's Campus France office.
• DAP, required for non-EU applicants to the first year of a licence outside EEF countries; roughly October to mid-December.
• Parcoursup, for EU students and certain non-EU categories; the 2026 cycle ran 19 January to 12 March with confirmation by 1 April and results from 2 June.
• Mon Master, the national platform for first-year master's applications.

Start 12 to 18 months out for a September intake if you need the EEF procedure, a language test and funding evidence. Nine to twelve months is workable but tight: the visa stage alone routinely takes four to six months, and consular appointment slots in high-demand countries are a real bottleneck in spring and summer.

What to watch out for

The differential-fee waiver is closing, and most online guidance is now wrong. Get any promised exemption confirmed in writing by the institution before committing. A verbal reassurance or a pre-2026 webpage is worthless.

CAF housing allowance is real money, but slow and never available for your first rent payments. It is open to international students, not just French nationals, and commonly covers a meaningful share of rent. But you must already hold a validated VLS-TS, have a lease in your own name, and occupy a dwelling meeting minimum size and decency standards: many cheap sublets and hotel-type residences are ineligible. The claim needs a French bank account and social security number, payment begins only from the month after you claim, there is no retroactivity, and processing often takes one to three months. Budget to pay full rent unaided for the first two to three months.

Paris housing is the hardest single obstacle. Landlords routinely demand a French-resident guarantor with income several times the rent: something no arriving international student has. The state Visale guarantee scheme is free and exists for students, but must be arranged in advance and is not accepted by every landlord. Agency fees, a month's deposit and proof of income are standard, and scams targeting arriving students are common. Strongly consider a non-Paris city: the same programme in Lyon, Lille or Toulouse can cost €400-600 less a month all in.

Universities, grandes écoles and private schools are three different products, and the third markets hardest. A large and growing private sector of "business schools" and private bachelor providers recruits abroad through commission-paying agents, charges €6,000-18,000+, and varies enormously in quality. Before paying, check whether the qualification is a diplôme visé, grade de licence or grade de master recognised by the Ministry: many private "bachelors" and "MBAs" are not and carry only an RNCP title or nothing. A degree that is not state-recognised undermines employability and your eligibility for the post-study card, which requires a master's or equivalent.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every figure above carries the date we checked it. Check the official source before you rely on it, and be aware that several Campus France country pages were still showing the old €615 proof-of-funds figure when we checked.