08 - France - Financial support for students

In France, students benefit from several types of financial aid: scholarships, accommodation and food aid and other financial aids. Since 2001, the proportion of scholarship students in higher education has remained stable at 30%. In 2005, 522,000 students benefited from national education grants (i.e. 1.3% more than in 2004) for a total amount of 1.3 billion Euros. Students benefiting from scholarships based on social criteria represent 95% of supported students.

In September 2007, the minister in charge of higher education presented a "new structure for the funding of student life". This new system, established as part of the "students’ living conditions" project, aims at correcting the injustices and insufficiencies of the current system and recognising students’ merit and international mobility.

With regard to accommodation, public support is provided via the network of university and school related benefits. Several types of accommodation in university residences are available to students:

• Traditional university residences (rooms within a collective structure)
• Furnished individual room (9 m2)
• collective premises: toilet – kitchenette – working rooms
• rent: approximately 150 Euros per month.
• The students occupying these rooms are entitled to the social housing allowance (ALS).
•  Funded residences
• Furnished 21 to 31 m2 studio and one-bedroom apartment
• Kitchenette and toilet in each apartment
• Average rent for a studio is €250/month.
• The students occupying these rooms are entitled to personalised housing benefits (APL).

Foreign students benefiting from grants awarded by the French government (BGF) or foreign governments (BGE) coming from developing countries have priority on the allocation of accommodation managed by the regional centres of university and school related benefits (CROUS) – 20% of foreign students benefit from this type of accommodation.

With regard to food services, foreign students, whether or not they benefit from a grant, have the same rights as French students in terms of access to university restaurants, managed by the regional centres of university and school related benefits (CROUS), or social services. For the price of 2.80 Euro for the 2007-2008 academic year, the university restaurant ticket allows students to benefit from a balanced meal in one of the 540 university restaurants or cafeterias managed by the CROUS. For example, over 55 million meals were served in 2006-2007. A significant effort to modernise and rationalise food services has been undertaken in each CROUS to provide students with adapted and diverse formulas, near their places of study.

Scholarships based on social criteria

Students must meet the following conditions in order to qualify for scholarships based on social criteria:

• Registered in a full-time initial tertiary education programme qualified to receive scholarships from the Ministry of Higher Education,
• Under the age of 26 by 1 October of the university school year, for the first scholarship application,
• French nationality, or foreign under certain circumstances.

Scholarships are granted according to the income earned in year n-2, listed as gross income on the tax statement, as well as family expenses (as measured by a national scale).

There are also complementary allowances, subject to specific conditions:

• Student settlement allowance  €300 paid in one instalment
• Maternity: €270/year paid on a monthly basis
• Transport (for students in the Ile de France region): €153/year, paid on a monthly basis
• Specific: payment of the grant is maintained during university summer holiday; aftercare; Antilles-French Guyana; Corsica

 Scholarships based on educational criteria

Merit scholarships

Merit scholarships are attributed to students who obtained the special mention " Très bien" (very good) the first time they take the baccalauréat

For the 2007-2008 academic year, 1,450 merit scholarships were awarded and the scholarship amounted to €6,102.

Scholarships based on academic criteria

These scholarships are granted based on a proposal from a university president according to university criteria in addition to social criteria. They go to students preparing for the extended studies degree (DEA), specialised higher studies degree (DESS), enrolled in the 3rd or 4th semesters of a research or professional master’s degree, or preparing for the agrégationexam (students who pass this exam can become professors in lycées or faculties).

For the 2007-2008 academic year, 12,029 scholarships based on academic criteria were awarded, with rates established as follows:

exam. These students remain eligible for scholarships based on social criteria. They must demonstrate their ability to succeed in the course of study preparing them for the admissions test for the national institute of administration (ENA) or the national institute of magistrature (ENM), the competitive examination taking place at the end of the first year of medical studies or the enrolment examination of a scientific, literary or humanities grande école. They may also be enrolled in a preparatory courses for the ENA admissions test at the political studies institutes in Aix-Marseille, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Montpellier, Lille, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Merit scholarship students make a commitment to finish the programme and take the admissions test.

• DEA, DESS, 2nd year in a master course: €4,052.
• Agrégationscholarships: €4,370.

Civil service scholarships

Civil service scholarships are granted to students preparing for certain external administration recruitment exams (admissions test for the national institute of administration or national institute of magistracy, test to become a Category A civil servant, admissions test for army, navy or air force institutes) or for the licence or master’s degree in public administration.

Tertiary studies allocation

Tertiary studies allocations are granted to students who encounter certain difficulties in the course of their school year at university (family break-up, adequately proven financial independence from family, etc.) or who are returning to their studies after the 26 year-old age limit. In order to qualify for a tertiary studies allocation, students must meet the same conditions of nationality and have the required diploma and level of education as necessary for the scholarship based on social criteria.

This allocation can also be given to students enrolled in preparatory courses for the agrégation exam or in a training programme that makes them eligible for a civil service scholarship rather than a tertiary education scholarship.

Tertiary studies allocation decisions are made by a special academic committee.

A total of 11,000 tertiary studies allocations are set aside each year. The amount of the allocation corresponds to one of the brackets of the tertiary education scholarship, with the exception of the bracket "zero".

Institution:

National Center for University and School Works (CNOUS)
Website:http://www.cnous.fr 

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