During a trip to Metz on Monday, November 25, the Minister of Higher Education and Research declared that he was setting up financial assistance of 40 euros per month to help students eat properly. This system will concern students who are too far from university restaurants.
Eat without breaking the bank. During a trip to the Verlaine restaurant at Crous de Metz (57), the Minister of Higher Education and Research Patrick Hetzel announced the launch of a system aimed at promoting student access to a catering offer at a moderate price.
40 euros per month for scholarship students
Concretely, this financial assistance will take the form of a dematerialized pre-paid card of 40 euros per month for scholarship holders, and 20 euros for non-scholarship holders. The card, which will be implemented from February 2025, can be used in food stores.
The system will concern students who cannot benefit from the 1 euro meal in university restaurants, because it is located more than 20 minutes on foot or by public transport from their school.
100,000 students affected
According to the press release published by the Ministry of Higher Education, “rectoral decrees will soon establish the list of establishments concerned by the white zones which will transmit to the rectorates the list of their students”.
This measure, which represents a budget of 38 million euros, complements the “1 euro meal” operation introduced in 2020 for scholarship students. Over the 2023-2024 academic year, this system benefited more than 500,000 students; in total, 43 million meals for 1 euro were served in 1000 collective catering points. Despite the scale of the network of university restaurants, nearly 100,000 students remained on the sidelines due to lack of proximity.
“I am delighted to launch this monthly aid intended to support the 100,000 students who do not currently benefit from a local, moderately priced catering solution,” enthused Patrick Hetzel in a press release. This new investment reinforces the strong commitment of the State and the Crous network to providing all students with access to good nutrition, regardless of their place of study. This is a first concrete measure of my roadmap for Higher Education and Research, intended to improve the living conditions of students.”
