Tuition and other fees

 

Students are expected to pay tuition and contribute to campus and student life. The latter costs around 91 EUR.

When targeting a degree in a public university in France, you should budget about 10,000€ per year for a bachelor’s or 14,000€ for a master’s. What’s great about studying in France is that the French government subsidizes 2/3 of this amount, which is ideal

when it comes to tuition fees for international students. According to Campus France, programs offered in public universities have consistent tuition across institutions – as of the 2020/2021 academic year. We estimated 2,770 euros per annum for students seeking a bachelor’s degree and 3,770 euros per annum for those seeking a master’s degree and finally 380 euros per year for those pursuing the doctoral level. 

 

That’s for public universities. Aside from these, in France, there are other higher education institutions like Grande’s Ecole and private universities that set their own tuition fees, which on average are higher. In private universities, for instance, tuition fees are in the range of 1,500 EUR – 20,000 EUR per annum. This amount can be even higher in business schools (5,000-30,000 EUR per annum). Check the school website for updated accurate information. 

According to Campus France, the breakdown for living-related expenses per month is as described below.

 

What about living costs? 

Below is the estimated monthly budget for those students living in France.

 

                                                                       Paris   VS.  Rest of France

Student Housing (all charges included)    $800    $500

Food    $350    $300

Cultural and social activities    $150    $100

Transportation    $50    $40

TOTAL per month    $1,350    $940

TOTAL per academic year (10 months)    $13,500    $9,400

https://www.usa.campusfrance.org/tuition-costs 

 

Admission process in French universities

Before starting to look for a university to apply to, ask yourself what you are going to study.

Many take this step lightly, picking a field of study at random or blindly going for the same field as the previous year and paying a heavy price.

What you ought to know is that fields of study aren’t born equal. There are indeed fields of study that give you a greater chance of success in life than others. Why is this? The answer is simply the number of job openings and related opportunities. This dynamic varies from year to year. A field of study that is hot or in demand for the ten years of your high school education might not be when you get to the university. There are many projections available regarding the viability of employment in different fields of study, and getting the right information is vital. It is amazing that people still embark on long studies without having first investigated whether they are indeed on a viable track. Life isn’t always about luck, and careful planning is crucial. 

It is all about making sure that your field of study is in demand before going for it. So it is important to check what’s particularly hot or supposed to be by the time you graduate. That’s one of the most important factors that should determine what field of study you will be going for. Once that’s done you can move to the next step of selecting what universities you will be applying to, making sure to check admission requirements as well as the procedure to apply. This is usually detailed on the university website. Note that these conditions might vary from one nationality to the next. 

 

What are admission requirements and required documents?

 

These vary from one university/program to the next. Check the website of your school for accurate information about the procedure as well as the required documents. Over the course of this process, you will be interacting with several different institutions, the French embassy of your country being one and others being the given university and a very special support services system specific to France-related applications, Campus France.

 

What documentation is needed?

Applying to study in France is tortuous procedure-wise with extreme attention devoted to details, so start gathering documents early. It takes a lot of time and energy to finish an application, especially for those living in non-French countries as their documents will need to be translated into French. If you find yourself in that situation and have no idea where to go to get your document translated, head to your local French embassy and someone will be able to assist you. Beware that requirements are often country-specific so make every effort to get the right information before starting to run back and forth and spending your hard-earned cash. 

What documents are required to apply for admission to a French university varies greatly from country to country. Among other things, this is dictated by the level of study, first language, and nationality, but on average, in addition to a carefully filled application, the key document requirements are as listed below: 

•  Academic documentation (diploma and transcripts) – giving a detailed account of your education each year since high school 
•  Birth certificate
• Campus France authorization – Campus France plays a central role in admission, so visiting your local Campus France office before anything else is vital
• Civil Liability Certificate – this is a form of insurance   
• Essay – this is sometimes requested by the university. This is a document that is written by the applicant and focuses on one aspect or another. The university can ask for your insights on any type of topic such as why you chose the given program    
• Financial support
•  French student Visa after you have been granted admission
•  ID photos
• Passport
• Processing application fee
•  Proof of language proficiency – Note that even in the heart of France there are programs offered in English, including some business programs. In this case, all those with a first language other than English need to provide this document. But because the bulk of programs in France are taught in French, those coming from non-French-speaking countries need to provide proof that they have mastery of the French language

 

One of the most unique aspects of applying for studies in France is that those who aren’t citizens of a European country and are applying for first-time admission at the undergraduate level need to go through the process of securing a preliminary type of admission referred to as DAP. 

After the letter of acceptance is secured, you can pay the first installment of your tuition fees, if required by the university to do so, and then apply for a French student Visa, short or long-term, depending what you need.