“Rendez-vous en France”: scholarships to fund your studies

In France, the cost of higher studies is moderate. The French government directly covers most of the cost of your studies. And there are many scholarship offers available to international students and researchers. These scholarships may be offered by public authorities, the European Union, companies, international organisations, foreign governments, etc.

Scholarships From the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs

Scholarships from the French government are granted by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. They may take the form of scholarship for studies, internships, high level scientific stays of language stays in France. These scholarships are generally issued by the Cultural Action and Cooperation Departments of embassies and consulates generals of France abroad.

The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs also funds major scholarship programmes specifically designed for international students and researchers:

• Eiffel Excellence Scholarships: launched in 1999, this programme is designed to support the international recruitment action of French higher education institutions. Thanks to this programme, institutions recruit the best international studies in Master and Doctorate training courses every year.
• “MOPGA” scholarship: As part of the “Make Our Planet Great Again” (MOPGA) initiative launched on 8 June 2017 by French president Macron, this scholarship programme is funded by the French Ministry in charge of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry in charge of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and is designed to encourage the coming of young international researchers in France who wish to carry out research on themes related to climate change issues.
• The Excellence-Major scholarship programme was jointly created in 1992 by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) to enable the best foreign students from French educational establishments abroad to follow a high-level higher education for five years in France. Each year, up to 200 new scholarship recipients are selected on excellence criteria to join this prestigious programme.
   

Scholarships from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation

Depending on their nationality or status, international students may also be eligible for financial assistance from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. These scholarships based on social criteria are managed by the CROUS.

Higher education institutions also offer scholarship programmes to international students and researchers who join their training courses.
 

Grants from European and international institutions

The European Union and international organisations also fund grant programmes for foreign students and researchers who come to France for their training:

• The Erasmus + programme: This programme for higher education offers stipends to cover part of the travel and accommodation costs. The amount of these stipends may vary depending on the host country;
• Scholarships from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie: The AUF offers scholarships to facilitate the mobility of students, researchers and teachers;
• International organisations and non-governmental organisations fund study and research scholarships for France;
• Scholarships from foreign governments: many foreign governments offer scholarship programmes for students and researchers from their countries who want to come to France for their training.

Campus Bourses, the online directory of scholarship programmes

To help you find funding, Campus France has developed Campus Bourses, an online tool listing scholarship programmes for international students.

Campus Bourses is accessible from the homepage of the website www.campusfrance.org. It allows you to find funding for a short or long duration study, research stay or internship, in all fields and at all levels, in a few clicks.

Available in French, English and Spanish, Campus Bourses provides you with complete, updated and tailor-made information thanks to an intuitive multi-criteria search (country, level, nationality, type of grant, etc.).