France: total number of students at university 2018-2019, by degree course

During the 2018/2019 academic year in France, the majority of students enrolled at university were following a degree course in Art and Humanities. There were more than 517,000 individuals studying areas as diverse as archaeology, philosophy, history or literature.

Who are the university students in France?

In 2018, there were more than 1.6 million university students registered in France. Alongside with Art and Humanities, Science was also one of the most popular degree course among university students in France. When choosing an academic orientation, French students seem to favor their personal interests. The country counted more 620 universities in 2018, which welcome a majority of French students, even though the number of students coming from other countries is increasing in recent years. In 2017 and 2018, 24 percent of foreign students in France were from Maghreb countries, which include French-speaking countries like Morocco or Algeria.

The cost of being a university student

France is known for being a country where annual tuition fees for third-level education are rather low compared to other countries like the United States or England. The annual tuition fee for domestic students in France amounts to 685 US dollars, while it reaches more than 11,000 US dollars in England. But these lower fees do not necessarily prevent students from financial difficulties. In 2019, nearly 20 percent of French students stated having financial problems throughout the year, while renting a student studio in the biggest cities of France is becoming more and more expensive.