The start of the university year becomes “an almost insurmountable step, conditioned by family support or forced employment”acts the Federation of General Student Associations (FAGE), Wednesday, September 4. The organization, which has been publishing its back-to-school cost barometer for twenty-two years, is launching “a real warning signal”.
It puts the average cost of a young person enrolled in a bachelor’s degree in September at 3,157 euros (+2.79% compared to 2023) to cover all their needs, if they do not receive any state aid and no longer live with their parents. Even more affected, a student from overseas will pay an average of 4,395 euros, due to transport costs. Subject to differentiated registration fees, a student from a country outside the European Union will pay an average of 5,832 euros, according to FAGE.
After four years of freezing, the government announced in the spring its decision to re-index university registration fees to inflation. Result: to attend classes, a student pays almost 3% more this year than in September 2023. The increase in fees amounts to an additional 5 euros for a bachelor’s degree (175 euros), 7 euros for a master’s degree (250 euros) and 11 euros for a doctorate (391 euros).
“Academic failure factor”
The rents for Crous university residences are also increasing, by 3.5%. Finally, the student life and campus contribution is set at 103 euros (+ 3 euros compared to 2023). Only scholarship students and apprentices are exempt from this contribution and registration fees.
For the resigning Minister of Higher Education, the impact of the increase in registration fees must be put into perspective. In June, Sylvie Retailleau recalled that the disappearance, since 2017, of the student contribution to Social Security “the fact that the fees paid to enter a degree have gone from 401 euros in 2017 to 278 euros in 2024, i.e. 123 euros less”.
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“While nearly 20% of students do not have enough to eat, The government is making access to higher education more difficult for the most disadvantaged by increasing the charges they have to pay, without ever increasing their social benefits accordingly.protests FAGE.
In addition to the back-to-school costs, there are daily living expenses, driven this year by a 2.5% increase in housing costs, the largest item of expenditure for students, the FAGE study details. Rent alone represents on average 45% of a student’s daily living costs, and almost 50% in the Paris region (563 euros on average, an increase of +2.51% in one year).
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