But let's take it in order. To enroll in the first year of a French university, it is enough to have a certificate of complete secondary education (school leaving certificate) and a certificate of admission to a higher education institution. If you want to continue your education in France, that is, to start your studies there directly from the second or third cycle, you must provide a document of incomplete or completed higher education. In that case, the decision on the initial level of your continued education will be made by the university committee on a case-by-case basis.
Admission committees do not hold entrance exams as such. They only check whether your level of French language proficiency is sufficient.
The dossier you send to the university, in addition to certified copies of recent diplomas and certificates translated into French, must include a motivation letter. In addition, a birth certificate (also with a translation into French) and a transcript of grades for the last two years are required if it is your first enrollment in a higher education institution.
As for tuition costs, nominally public education in France is considered free. However, on average (it depends on the specific university), you will have to spend from 150 to 600 euros per year for the use of the library, laboratories, and general campus infrastructure. At the same time, you can be sure that Epson C1100 toner will always be refilled in the school library's printer. The cost of living (accommodation and food) will be about 300-500 euros per month. It is worth noting that the French government partially (by 20-40%) compensates students' housing costs. This amount varies depending on the size of your room and how many people live with you.
And the last formality is obtaining a long-term student visa with the right to apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) on the spot. One of the important conditions for obtaining a visa is the need to demonstrate your financial solvency, prove that you have sufficient funds to live in France, and also provide medical and social security insurance. For this, you must present a bank statement showing that you have at least 4,268.57 euros in your account for a year and, of course, the original insurance policy.
So, if all these conditions are satisfied, you can start thinking about choosing a university and a faculty that matches your interests.
There are 79 universities in total in France; most of them are multidisciplinary autonomous higher education institutions, while some concentrate education around two or three specializations, for example Paris-2 (economics and law). The oldest universities are in Paris (since 1258), Montpellier (1180, reorganized in 1289), Toulouse (1229), Grenoble (1339), Aix (1409), and Poitiers (1431).
Some of the most important indicators of a university's prestige are the social background of students, the presence or absence of strict selection either at admission or during studies, and the number of graduates with degrees.
The most elite universities are Paris-9, Paris-1, Paris-2, and Paris-6 - with 4% to 9% of students from low-income backgrounds. Whereas in Paris-8 and Valenciennes, about 40%; in Metz and Arras, 35%; in Lille-3, 32%. The overall figures range from 12% to 30%. In this regard, it can be assumed that more elite institutions will have higher requirements for applicants and lower chances of admission.
As for the level of feminization of universities, there are no surprises here. Of course, there are always more women in humanities faculties than in technical ones. Thus, in law-economics specialties, women account for about 50%; in philology, about 60-70%; in medicine, about 40%; in technical faculties, 20-30%. All others are about 50%.
In terms of the number of diplomas issued, Paris-1 confidently leads with about 14,000; the second place was shared by Nantes and Paris-10 (up to 11,500). In third place are Lyon-2, Aix-Marseille-1, Poitiers, Dijon, Lille-1, and Toulouse-3 - with more than 9,000 diplomas.
An important criterion when choosing a university is also your motivation - whether you want to get a specialist diploma as soon as possible and enter the workforce, or whether you are interested in research and an academic career.
The increasing number of specialist diplomas - DESS - proves that the French have begun to care much more about the professional future of students. This situation is observed at the universities of Le Havre, Corsica, Arras, Avignon, Angers, Évry, Chambéry, Valenciennes, and Marne-la-Vallée - where 70-80% of all third-cycle diplomas are DESS. This distribution of forces is characteristic of newer and rapidly developing universities.
Upon closer examination, a criterion such as the average age of teaching staff may also prove important. Seven French universities, five of which are in Paris, risk losing a quarter of their teaching staff over the next five years due to retirement. These are Paris-1, Paris-2, Paris-3, Paris-4, Aix-Marseille-1, and Amiens (with a record possible loss of 45%). Meanwhile, in new universities, this percentage, fortunately, does not exceed 5%.
Since the topic of teaching staff has been raised, it is worth seeing it through to the end - is there actually a sufficient number of teachers in universities? Many universities have a very good reputation with a small number of lecturers. What is the secret? The fact that, for example, at Paris-2 lectures are still delivered to an audience of 2,000 students! Paris-1 (law), Paris-3 (literature), Lyon-3 (economics), and Montpellier-3 (literature) are in a similar situation. At the same time, for example, rumors have it that at Paris-6, despite a large number of lecturers, they are rarely seen at lectures: they mostly spend their time in laboratories doing research. The general trend is that small universities and small faculties are better staffed with teachers.
In terms of the teacher-student ratio, the leaders are Paris-6, Bordeaux-1, Strasbourg-1, Nancy-1, Grenoble-1, Paris-7, and Montpellier-2 - approximately 11-14 students per teacher. However, these are all institutions specializing in the natural sciences, including medicine.
Things are much worse in humanities institutions (law, economics, philology) - Paris-2, Paris-1, Lyon-3, Rennes-2, Montpellier-3, Paris-4, Lyon-2, Paris-3, Paris-10, Paris-8 - more than 30 students per teacher, and at Paris-2 this ratio reaches as many as 42.
Similar problems exist with providing students with computers and free places in libraries. Only 12 universities have at least one computer per 10 people (which is already considered a great achievement). Those who choose new universities are luckiest in this regard - La Rochelle, Marne-la-Vallée, Littoral, Cergy, Valenciennes, Chambéry, Perpignan, Mulhouse. First place goes to the University of Brest - there is one computer for every four students.
Students at the capital's universities can only dream of this - at Paris-1 and Paris-4 there are 100 people per computer. At Paris-1 it gets to the point where you might snatch a chair from under someone else - there is one chair for every 50 people!
So, it is worth carefully weighing all the pros and cons, your wishes and opportunities - whether what matters to you is the prestige of education or its conditions. Because provincial universities often are not inferior in the quality of education and student life conditions to their more internationally famous counterparts, and sometimes may even surpass them.
Of course, studying at a French university is very difficult: among the 330,000 applicants admitted, almost half leave its walls without receiving any diploma. Moreover, a third of those admitted come from low-income families, although for the most part it is precisely they who study most diligently, and their percentage increases towards the second and third cycles.
As for foreigners, they make up 11% of the total number of students in France. However, they are already 15% among candidates for DESS and even 29% among future holders of DEA and in doctoral studies. The figures, as they say, speak for themselves.
Based on materials from the TsMK «PARTA»