francetuition feespolicyapplications
France makes non-EU tuition fees mandatory from 2026
French universities can no longer quietly waive tuition fees for most non-EU students. From the 2026-2027 academic year, each institution may exempt at most 30% of its non-EU fee-payers — a cap falling to 20% within two years — meaning most non-EU students will now actually pay the differentiated fees that have existed on paper since 2019.
What changed
Differentiated tuition fees for non-EU students studying toward a bachelor’s (licence) or master’s degree in France have technically existed since April 2019: €2,895 a year for a licence and €3,941 for a master’s, compared with €178 and €254 for EU, EEA, and Swiss students.
Until now, individual universities decided how many students to exempt from these fees — and most chose to waive them for nearly everyone, so in practice few non-EU students paid the higher rate. That discretion has now gone. From the 2026-2027 intake, universities can exempt at most 30% of their enrolled non-EU fee-paying students, falling to 25% in 2027-2028 and 20% after that.
Students who already hold an exemption for 2025-2026 keep it for the rest of their programme, provided they stay at the same institution on a comparable course. Students on a French government scholarship (BGF) or covered by an inter-institutional agreement sit outside the cap altogether.
Who it affects
- New non-EU applicants starting a bachelor’s or master’s at a public university in September 2026 or later.
- Continuing students are not affected retroactively — the change applies to new commencements, and current students keep their existing fee status.
- Doctoral candidates sit outside this system entirely; the differentiated fee only applies to licence and master’s programmes.
- Students who were counting on an informal or expected university waiver, since competition for the shrinking exemption pool will be intense.
What you should do
- Budget for the full €2,895 (bachelor’s) or €3,941 (master’s) annual tuition rate rather than assuming a fee waiver.
- Ask your university directly, in writing, whether it will exempt you — don’t rely on last year’s practice or general reputation.
- Check whether you qualify for a French government scholarship (BGF) or an exemption under an agreement between your home institution and the French university, since these fall outside the capped pool.
- Factor the fee into the cost of living planning you do before applying for your visa — French visa officers check that you can cover both fees and living costs.
What hasn’t changed
EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals continue to pay the same low fees as French students. The Campus France application and visa process itself is unchanged — this is a fee policy shift, not a new immigration procedure.