Can I get a CROUS grant as a foreign student?

The French higher-education grant based on social criteria (bourse sur critères sociaux) helps students with financial difficulties. Foreign students can get it too, but only if they meet extra conditions.

Who can get it?

For all students: be enrolled full-time in initial higher education in an institution approved for grant holders, be under 28 when you first apply (with some exceptions), and meet the income conditions.

EU, EEA and Swiss students must also either have worked in France, or have a parent or legal guardian who received income in France.

Non-EU students must also either:

• have lived in France for at least two years and have a tax household in France for at least two years; or
• have refugee status or subsidiary protection granted by the OFPRA.

In practice, most students arriving from abroad cannot get this grant in their first years.

How do I apply?

Fill in your social file (DSE) on messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr. For 2026–27, the window was 1 March to 31 May 2026; the 2027–28 window should open in spring 2027.

What does it give you?

• A monthly grant (see amounts below)
• Exemption from university tuition fees and from the CVEC
• Priority for CROUS housing
• Access to CAF housing aid, even for non-EU students (see the CAF conditions)
• Low-cost meals in CROUS restaurants

Amounts for 2026–2027 (paid over 10 months)

• 0 bis: €1,454
• 1: €2,163
• 2: €3,071
• 3: €3,828
• 4: €4,587
• 5: €5,212
• 6: €5,506
• 7: €6,335

Some students can keep receiving the grant during the summer holidays, with higher annual amounts.

Your obligations

You must enrol, attend classes and sit your exams. Your institution checks attendance and reports it to the CROUS, which can stop the grant or ask you to repay it.