Tuition fees in France

Choosing to study in France means gaining access to high-quality programmes designed for a wide range of student interests. Tuition fees are low in public Higher education institutions because the French government subsidizes higher education. The true cost of education is the same as it is elsewhere in the world—around €10,000 a year. The difference is that in France the government assumes a large share of that cost.

Tuition fees for academic year 2024/25

For European students (nationals of a member country of the European Union, the European Economic Area, Andorra or Switzerland)*

The French government will continue to pay most of the cost of your degree programme in a public institution of higher education. Tuition charges for the academic year 2024/2025: 

• €175 per year at the licence (bachelor) level
• €250 per year at the master level
• €618 per year in a school of engineering**
• €391 per year at the doctoral level

* Some non-EU students pay registration fees identical to those paid by French and EU students based on their status or the degree for which they are studying. These are:

• students who are residents of Quebec,
• international students who hold a long-term residence card or students who have declared their taxable household or have been associated with a taxable household in France for more than 2 years,
• students who benefit from refugee status or subsidiary protection, or children of recipients of such statuses,
• international students enrolled within a doctoral programme, within a HDR (authority to supervise research) and students in the 3rd cycle of their medical, dental and pharmaceutical studies,
• international students enrolled in a 'classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles' (preparatory class for Grandes Ecoles), whatever their nationality, and with dual enrolment in a university degree course,
• students enrolled within a public higher education establishment that falls within the scope of the MESR, at all levels (Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate) for the 2018/2019 academic year, 
• students enrolled in a centre for the study of French as a foreign language (français langue étrangère, FLE) in France prior to the commencement of the 2019/2020 academic year.

** Except for programmes begun after 1 September 2018 at the Ecole Centrale in Lille, Lyon, Marseille, and Nantes, and at the Ecole des Mines in Nancy, where the annual tuition will be €2,572.

Keep in mind…

• The schools of engineering operated by the Ministry of Defense (ENSTA Paris Tech, ISAE, Polytechnique), the Ministry of the Economy (Mines Paris Tech, the schools of the Institut Mines Telecom), and the Ministry of Agriculture (AgroParisTech, Montpellier Sup Agro) have different tuition charges. Check the rates on the websites of the schools that interest you.
• You may also be subject to examination fees when applying to schools of engineering.

For non EU-students 

You will be required to pay differentiated registration fees if:

1. You are enrolling for the 1st time for a Bachelor's or Master's degree, or for an engineering programme, for the start of the 2024/2025 academic year;
    
2. Within a higher education establishment that falls within the scope of the MESR;
    
3. Provided that you are not permanently settled in France. 

The state will thus cover two thirds of the cost of your training. The total registration fee that you will be required to pay will be:

• €2,850 per year at the licence (bachelor) level
• €3,879 per year at the master level

If you enroll in a degree at Doctorate level at the beginning of the 2024 academic year, the French government continues to assume most of the cost of your education until you complete your degree programme. Your tuition for 2024/2025 will be €391. Non-EU doctoral students are not subject to new differentiated tuition fees.

France’s major public postsecondary institutions are listed below. In all of them, a large part of the real cost of education is subsidized by the state. And all of them are covered by the new system of differentiated tuition.

• All of France’s universities
• All 25 institutional groupings
• The three INPs (national polytechnical institutes) in Toulouse, Grenoble, and Bordeaux
• The four écoles centrales in Lille, Lyon, Marseille, and Nantes
• The six INSAs (national institutes of applied sciences) in Lyon, Rennes, Toulouse, Rouen, Strasbourg, and CentreVal de Loire
• The three technological universities in Compiègne, BelfortMontbéliard, and Troyes
• The four ENSs (écoles normales supérieures) in Paris, Cachan, Lyon, and Rennes
• Twenty national institutions, including the Collège de France, CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers), INALCO (Institut national de langues et de civilisations orientales), and EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociales)
• Five French institutions abroad: the French schools in Athens, Rome, and the Far East; the Institut français d'archéologie orientale in Cairo; and the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid
• Twentyfive public research bodies, including CNRS, CNES, CIRAD, INSERM, INRA, and IFREMER

We urge you to check the official government list to verify whether your institution is covered by the tuition system.