What will she do next year? “Probably a PhD in neuroscience in Paris-V or Saclay,” says Lisha, a 20-year-old Chinese who is pursuing a master’s degree in the capital. In the Cité Internationale, where she lives, the mood is for revisions for the time being. “Tomorrow I have a partial denture,” she confides in English with a touch of Mandarin.
Like her, there are more and more foreign students in France: almost 400,000 in all. That’s 8% more in one year, the strongest increase in fifteen years. According to INSEE, which publishes a thick dossier on “Immigrants and Immigrant Descendants” this Thursday, studies have even become the first reason for entering our country, just before family reunification.
In the Cité Internationale de Paris, where 12,000 students and researchers from 150 nations are housed, demand explodes. “The number of applications has increased by almost 20% this year,” calculates Michel Kriebs, Head of Accommodation. Like this huge campus, where pavilions in the colors of the world are lined up, people come from all over the world to take courses in Molière’s language, mainly in science. Morocco and Algeria occupy the first two tiers, followed by China, Italy and Senegal. “The Covid has delayed projects. There is undoubtedly a catch-up effect,” says Jean-Christophe Dumont, expert on international migration at the OECD.
France remains competitive despite rising tuition fees
The health crisis does not explain everything. This jump is all the more spectacular because it comes after a sharp increase in tuition fees for non-Europeans. “Despite everything, we remain very competitive. If non-EU citizens now have to pay 2,700 euros for a year’s bachelor’s degree and 3,700 euros for a master’s degree (compared to 170 euros and 243 euros for the others), this is well below what is practiced in Anglo-Saxon countries. , where fees can exceed 20,000 euros a year,” stresses Donatienne Hissard, Director General of Campus France, the national agency in charge of promoting French higher education abroad.
On the public side, we also highlight the efforts that have been made to promote the assets of the Land of the Enlightenment, particularly its elite areas. Last year, Campus France organized more than fifty exhibitions or events abroad to convince those who hesitate. Among the regions most targeted: Asia, a demographic heavyweight whose population is highly mobile, and Africa. “France has always welcomed a large number of foreign students and the number is increasing, but the same applies to other countries. In fact, we are experiencing a global phenomenon of the internationalization of studies,” analyzes Jean-Christophe Dumont.
The competition in this area is fierce. “France was the 4th host country, but Germany has overtaken it and is now in 6th place, closely followed by Japan, which has a very active policy,” notes the researcher. The government has set a goal of reaching 500,000 international students by 2027. The use? Spending on food, rent, leisure time, transport, visiting relatives… According to a survey by the Kantar Institute, they mean a windfall of 5 billion euros a year. If you subtract the 3.7 billion in public spending that they benefit from (housing subsidies, scholarships, social security, etc.), the profit is still well over a billion euros. But these non-negligible advantages are far from the main motivation.
“A talent pool” for multinationals and SMEs alike
“We are supporting more and more companies in their projects to attract foreign students,” says Géraldine Renaudière, manager at Fragomen, a specialist law firm. So far it has mainly been multinational companies, but we also support SMEs and start-ups. These companies draw “a pool of talent” from the universities and the Grandes Écoles.
“In fact, the professional integration of foreign students is very often made more difficult by lengthy and complex administrative procedures,” the specialist qualifies. The employer and the young graduate can face technical blockages, processing times of several months, which prevent him from his efforts. The result: five years after their studies, two thirds left the country. “But these can still be interesting in terms of soft power. The hope is that when they return, they will become ambassadors of France,” notes Jean-Christophe Dumont.