All expenditure items are up this year and students are increasing their choices. Food is thus being sacrificed even more.
“Insurmountable”. This is how the cost of the 2024 student year is described in the traditional indicator* produced by Fage, which brings together student associations.
The total actually reaches 3,157 euros for a non-scholarship student (an annual increase of 2.79%) and even 4,395 euros for an overseas student.
The cause is “a marked increase in specific back-to-school costs, driven by an increase in all expenditure items”.
University registration fees have jumped by +3% on average to 175 euros (a first since 2018, notes Fage).
“This increase has a negative impact on access to higher education for hundreds of thousands of students who will have to pay 175 euros for a bachelor’s degree (+5 euros), 250 euros for a master’s degree (+7 euros) and 391 euros for a doctorate (+11 euros),” we can read.
Specific teaching materials (textbooks, etc.) have skyrocketed by 17% to 176 euros. “Certain teaching costs, strongly recommended by the teaching staff, or even essential for the proper monitoring of the course (and therefore normally the responsibility of the training or internship establishment), are still today the responsibility of students,” explains Fage.
Inflation also affects classic supplies: +1.7% to 217 euros.
Rent is a heavy burden
“Thus, for many students, the start of the university year is proving to be an almost insurmountable stage, conditioned by family support or forced employment. Non-scholarship students, who are the majority, are being hit hard by the increase in specific back-to-school costs,” warns Fage.
At the same time, daily living expenses increased by 1.3% to 1,238 euros (1,402 euros in Ile-de-France), driven by housing with +2.5% for rent (estimated at 563 euros) and the security deposit (+2.5% to 563 euros).
In Ile-de-France, the cost of accommodation (688 euros) can represent half of a student’s daily living expenses.
Health-related costs are also increasing, with the cost of supplementary insurance increasing by 2% to 341 euros.
At 204 euros, food represents an increasingly heavy item, with the result that 20% of students do not have enough to eat.
“Food is becoming the first variable of budgetary adaptation for students. In recent years, the food budget has increased sharply due to inflation, yet without sufficient increase in social aid. For the same budget, students have had to choose between sacrificing their number of meals or the quality of their food,” the study highlights.
“Thus, the costs of accommodation, food, transport and other necessary daily expenses represent a growing source of stress for students by creating strong financial tension,” we can read.
*: The overall indicator is obtained by adding up the daily living expenses and the specific back-to-school expenses calculated for the month of September. An average of the amounts obtained is then calculated for the different regions, weighted according to their respective student numbers. For the 2024 school year, FAGE also wanted to highlight certain so-called modular expenses, which apply to certain students depending on their specific situations.
Olivier Chicheportiche BFM Business journalist
