Thousands sign petition against foreign student fees in French universities

More than 26,000 people have signed a petition against increased tuition fees for foreign university students in France.

The petition, launched by leading student union l’Union étudiante, comes in response to a government decree that came into force on May 21, making it harder for universities to exempt international students from fee rises starting in September.

“Just a few months after Philippe Baptiste [higher education minister] decided to scrap housing benefits [APL] for non-EU international students, the government is going one step further... Now, these students are being asked to pay tuition fees 16 times higher than those of their European peers. We see this as nothing other than national preference,” states the petition published on Change.org.

The petition also cites the examples of universities in Paris and Strasbourg where students are “forfeiting the degrees they had already begun” following the sudden introduction of fees for international students.

“I think this is a way of excluding foreign students from France - even though we come to this country to enjoy better conditions and opportunities. This new measure is very difficult for us as foreign students,” reads a public comment by petition supporter, Layida.

Ludmila, another supporter wrote: “I was planning to come back for the start of the new term in September, but the closer I get to my arrival, the more bad news there is: the withdrawal of financial support, the rise in tuition fees, and very few working hours – it’s simply impossible.”

L’Union étudiante also called for a digital and administrative protest, encouraging people to flood the Ministry of Higher Education with calls and emails “to demonstrate widespread opposition to the measure.”

What does the new decree say?

Since 2019, non-EU international students have technically been required to pay higher university tuition fees than students from the European Economic Area (EEA) under the Bienvenue en France (Welcome to France) law.

However, this has been applied inconsistently across institutions, with many universities disregarding the fees following student protests.

The new decree, falling under an initiative titled Choose France for Higher Education, means the maximum proportion of international students that a university may exempt from tuition fees is set at 30% for the 2026–27 academic year, 25% for the 2027–28 academic year, and a long-term goal of 20%. Exemptions from tuition fees may be full or partial.

Note that certain foreign students are not counted in this limit if covered by an exchange agreement with a foreign institution granting an exemption from tuition fees to French students.

Tuition fees are set each year by ministerial decree with the fees for the 2026–27 academic year yet to be announced.

Based on the 2025–26 academic year, fees applicable to international students were €2,895 per year for a Bachelor’s degree (compared with €178 for other students), and €3,941 per year (compared with €254 for other students) for a Master’s degree.

International students are not affected by the fee rises if they are EU nationals, EEA nationals (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), or nationals of the Swiss Confederation.

Those who have been granted exemption from tuition fees for the 2025–26 academic year will continue to benefit from this exemption until the end of the degree programme at the university in question. The same applies for students who were granted an exemption for the 2026–27 academic year prior to the date on which the decree came into force (May 21).