We covered very well in the last series of blogs just how much France has to offer you from a cultural perspective, and why speaking French allows you to make the most of your time in France, but I now want to take a look at another angle.
Did you know that students with a good level of French are eligible for government grants and scholarships?
In fact, France is one of the most popular destinations for studying abroad. Doing your higher education abroad not only gives you the amazing experience of living in another country, totally immersing yourself in the culture, but also qualifies you for many internationally recognized degrees.
There are in fact, various funding schemes as well as exchange programmes designed to help international postgraduates at French universities.
Here are just a few of the amazing opportunities offered to international students in France:
- There are 700 scholarships available for international students wanting to study in France, these cover all levels of study. The majority of these grants come directly from the government.
- The cost of studying a Masters in France is offset by national investment, the French government actually spends around €10,000 on each higher education student per year!
- Tuition fees are capped by law, meaning there is no chance of sudden extortionate expenses.
- If you get accepted into a scholarship programme, they typically cover all tuition as well as money to live on throughout the year. This depends on the individual scholarship but usually ranges between €200 to €1,200.
If this is something that you may be interested in and you want to research any of these degrees to see if you could qualify, these are the largest programmes: Eiffel Excellence Scholarship, the Major Excellence Programme, the Erasmus Mundus Programme and the Ile-de-France Masters Scholarship.
Of course universities in France are taught in French, which is why having a good grasp of the language is a vital requirement. You can always brush up while you are there, you will certainly increase your slang and overall fluency but having the basics down cold is a necessity.
I hope some of you will consider what a wonderful experience this could be.