Dreaming of a master’s in France? We’ll help you get there

Why study in France?

France combines globally ranked universities with some of Europe's strongest business schools, across master's, MBA and PhD programmes. Four French universities rank in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings 2027: Université PSL (34th), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (43rd), Sorbonne Université (73rd) and Université Paris-Saclay (76th). In the QS Business Master's Rankings 2027, HEC Paris ranks first in the world for Master in Management, with ESSEC third.

Getting the funding together is often the hardest part. With Prodigy Finance you can apply for an international student loan with no co-signer or collateral required. Our borderless model makes it easier to finance your education at top French institutions.

Higher tuition at public universities

France has charged non-EU students higher tuition than EU students since 2019, but universities could waive the difference, and most did. Décret n° 2026-385, dated 19 May 2026 and in force from 21 May, now caps those waivers. For 2026-27, universities can exempt at most 30% of their non-EU students, falling to 25% in 2027-28 and 20% over time.

The 2026-27 rates are €2,902 a year for a bachelor's and €3,950 for a master's, against €178 and €255 for EU students.

Who keeps the old rate?

Students who were granted an exemption for 2025-26 keep it until the end of their cycle at the same institution. So do students granted an exemption for 2026-27 before 21 May 2026. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and PhD candidates are not affected by differentiated fees. Universities can also exempt students covered by reciprocal agreements with foreign institutions without counting them toward the 30% cap.

A higher proof of funds for the visa

From 1 August 2026, student visa applicants must show €877.50 a month, up from €615. Décret n° 2026-526 of 22 June 2026 sets the figure at 47% of the gross monthly minimum wage, so it will move when the minimum wage does. For a 10-month academic year, the amount you evidence rises from about €6,150 to about €8,775.

Both changes raise the cost of studying in France, so budgets built before June 2026 need rechecking. Business schools set their own fees and the tuition reform doesn't change them.

Sources: Service Public, differentiated tuition fees from 2026; Campus France, tuition fees in France; France Immigration, student visa financial requirements 2026.

France has two cost levels. A non-EU master's at a public university costs €3,950 a year. An MBA at HEC Paris costs about €102,000, and the INSEAD MBA €109,860. School fees move your budget more than anything else, so check them before you shortlist.

Tuition: what you'll pay, and where

These are indicative figures that show the range. Individual school fees are in the universities section below.

Monthly living costs

The €877.50 visa minimum sits above Campus France's €600 to €800 reference for cities outside Paris and below a realistic Paris budget, so plan for more than the consulate asks for if you're headed to the capital. Housing aid (APL) is no longer open to most non-EU students. Since 1 July 2026 it requires a scholarship on social criteria, or paid work or an apprenticeship, so don't budget for it.

One-off costs to budget for

Sources: Campus France, tuition fees in France; SKEMA, cost of living in France 2026 (citing Campus France and CROUS); Service Public, APL for non-scholarship students; France Immigration, student visa financial requirements 2026; INSEAD, MBA financing; Clear Admit, HEC Paris MBA.

France doesn't use a blocked account like Germany or a 28-day holding rule like the UK. It asks for evidence of resources and accepts several kinds of proof.

The threshold

€877.50 a month for the length of your stay, for every application submitted from 1 August 2026. It's 47% of the gross monthly minimum wage, so it will rise when the minimum wage does. You're proving you can support yourself after tuition and programme fees are paid, not including them.

What counts as proof

• Your own bank statements, usually the three most recent, showing either a balance covering the full period or steady monthly income above the threshold

• An attestation de prise en charge from a guarantor, with their tax returns and proof of income attached. The guarantor doesn't have to be resident in France, though consular practice varies

• A scholarship certificate stating the amount and duration

• A loan or funding package letter stating a value above the threshold, where your consulate accepts it. Check your France-Visas checklist before you rely on it

Common mistakes

• Budgeting on €615. Anyone who prepared their file before August 2026 needs to recheck the figure

• A single large deposit landing days before the appointment. Consulates may read that as borrowed money rather than genuine resources

• Proving the threshold but forgetting it sits on top of tuition and fees, not inside them

• Starting the Études en France procedure too late. The bottleneck is usually the portal and the appointment queue rather than the money. Four to five months before your start date is the working minimum

• Treating €877.50 as a budget. It's the visa minimum. Paris typically costs €1,200 to €1,800 a month

Sources: France Immigration, student visa financial requirements 2026; CCFS Sorbonne, student visa guide 2026.

Prodigy Finance lends to international master's students on your future earning potential, not your family's assets. No co-signer, no collateral and no credit history in your home country needed. Our student loans cover tuition and living expenses up to USD 220,000^*, with interest rates from 10.90%^*.

Top business schools ask for a substantial deposit when you accept an offer, and the visa asks you to evidence about €8,775 for a 10-month year. Our loans cover tuition and living costs.

Where your money goes

Tuition is paid to your school through our payment partner, as required under French banking rules. Where your loan includes living costs, those are paid directly to you, into a French bank account you open as part of the process, the same way we handle disbursements for the UK and most destinations outside Germany and the US.

What to do first, and what can wait

1. Check your loan eligibility. You don't need an offer to do it.

2. Start the Études en France procedure on the Campus France portal. Four to five months before your start date is the working minimum, and it's the step students most often begin too late.

3. Apply to programmes through the portal or direct, depending on the institution.

4. Accept your offer and pay any deposit. At the top business schools this is substantial and due quickly.

5. Complete your loan application once you have your admission letter.

6. Build your proof of funds at €877.50 a month over several months, rather than depositing a lump sum close to your appointment.

7. Book your consular appointment, then validate your visa with OFII within three months of arriving.

France's strength sits in two places: research universities that rank well globally, and a business school sector with several of Europe's leading schools.

Universities

Université PSL is France's highest-ranked university in the QS World University Rankings 2027, in 34th place, followed by Institut Polytechnique de Paris at 43rd and Sorbonne Université at 73rd.

Business schools

This is where France is strongest. In the QS Business Master's Rankings 2027, HEC Paris ranks first in the world for Master in Management and ESSEC third. In the QS Global MBA Rankings 2027, HEC Paris is 6th and INSEAD 8th.

Sources: QS World University Rankings 2027; QS Business Master's Rankings 2027; QS Global MBA Rankings 2027; ESCP, QS 2027 results; emlyon, QS 2027 results; INSEAD, MBA financing; Clear Admit, HEC Paris MBA.

Most non-EU applicants go through Études en France, the Campus France portal, which handles both the academic application and the visa pre-registration in one file. Business schools frequently admit direct as well, but you'll still pass through the portal for the visa stage.

What you will need

• A bachelor's degree equivalent to the French Licence, from a recognised institution

• Official transcripts from every institution attended, with certified translations if not in French or English

• Proof of language ability in the language of instruction (see the language section below)

• A motivation letter, and usually one or two references

• GMAT or GRE for many business school programmes. This is programme-specific and increasingly optional, rather than a national requirement

• A Campus France interview in some countries, including India

Your timeline for a September 2027 start

Sources: CCFS Sorbonne, student visa guide 2026; institutional admissions pages.

Yes. France runs a large and growing number of English-taught master's programmes, and many top business schools teach their MBA and Master in Management in English.

You still need to prove language ability. If your programme is taught in French, you'll need DELF, DALF, TCF or TEF at the level the institution sets, commonly B2. If it's taught in English, the programme sets its own requirement, and many waive a test where your degree was taught in English.

You can complete an English-taught degree in France without French, but the administrative side, housing, banking and the RECE application are easier with some, as is the graduate job market outside international employers. French isn't required for admission, and it opens up your career options.

Typical language test requirements

Always verify the language requirements of your specific programme before applying.

Non-EU students need a long-stay student visa, the VLS-TS, which doubles as a residence permit once you validate it online after arrival. The visa fee is €50. You apply through the Études en France portal first, then at the consulate.

The documents you will need

• Valid passport

• Études en France validation or attestation de pré-inscription from Campus France

• Admission letter from your institution

• Proof of funds at €877.50 a month for the length of your stay

• Proof of accommodation, generally for at least the first three months

• Language certificate for the language of instruction

• Health cover, plus enrolment in the French student social security scheme after arrival

• Two recent passport photographs and, in some countries, an interview completion certificate

After you arrive

Validate your VLS-TS online with OFII within three months of arriving. Validation is required, and it's the step most commonly missed. An unvalidated VLS-TS means you can't legally re-enter France after leaving, and it blocks your first residence permit renewal. Pay the CVEC before enrolling, and register your address.

Keeping your visa valid

• Validate your VLS-TS online after arrival

• Stay enrolled full time

• Keep valid health insurance

• Update your address with the authorities if you move

• Renew your residence permit before it expires

Your VLS-TS or residence permit usually lets you travel within the Schengen Area for short stays. Carry your passport, proof of enrolment and valid permit.

Processing times vary by consulate and season, and no single official figure covers every post, so check your local consulate and apply early.

Sources: CCFS Sorbonne, student visa guide 2026; France-Visas, the official visa portal.

Yes. A VLS-TS student visa lets you work up to 964 hours a year, roughly 20 hours a week averaged across the year. You can concentrate the hours differently, full time over the summer and less in term, as long as the annual total holds. You don't need a separate work permit.

Internships that form part of your programme are allowed but must follow French internship rules and be covered by a convention de stage through your institution.

Part-time work will help with your monthly costs. It won't satisfy the proof of funds requirement. The consulate wants the money evidenced before it issues the visa, not a plan to earn it.

Source: Campus France, working while studying in France.

The two that matter most are French government schemes, and both close long before university deadlines.

Eiffel needs an institutional nomination, so you can't apply for it directly. Charpak is competitive and age-capped. Don't plan your funding around winning a scholarship, particularly now that tuition at public universities has risen.

Sources: Campus France, Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programme; EURAXESS, Eiffel scholarships for 2026; Campus France India, Charpak Master's Scholarship.

Yes. The post-study permit is the RECE, recherche d'emploi ou création d'entreprise, which many people still call the APS. It gives master's graduates 12 months to find qualified work or start a business, with full-time work rights in any job while you search. Indian nationals can renew it once, for 24 months in total. The permit fee is €150 from 1 May 2026. France has strong industries in luxury, engineering, tech, hospitality and research, which makes the post-study pathway especially valuable.

Indian students get a longer post-study stay under a bilateral agreement: a 12-month RECE that they can renew once for a further 12 months. Indian alumni living in India can also apply for a five-year multiple-entry Schengen circulation visa, which some online content presents as a five-year post-study work visa. It's a short-stay visa for tourism or business, with stays of up to 90 days at a time, and it gives no right to work or live in France.

Sources: Service Public, job search or company creation permit; Campus France India, getting an alumni visa; France-Visas, international talents.

Questions about studying in France

Questions about our loans

Visa

Choosing France: INSEAD

*Loan and promotion offers are subject to our eligibility, funding, and credit assessment criteria.

*Loan amounts are subject to the cost of attendance limits set by schools.

*The purpose of this guide is to provide prospective students with a general overview of the international student visa process and should not be regarded as legal or immigration advice, or as a substitute for official guidance from government authorities, embassies, or consular offices. While we’ve taken care to compile accurate and up-to-date information, Prodigy Finance Limited does not accept liability for any inaccuracies, omissions, or outdated details. We strongly encourage all prospective students and readers to consult the official government websites and immigration authorities relevant to their study destination for the most accurate and current information. Prodigy Finance Limited is not authorised to provide immigration services and cannot offer personalised visa advice or assistance.