Their academic year is drawing to a close, but the University of Strasbourg, located near the border between France and Germany, will grant these master’s students neither certificates nor diplomas, as they are now considered never to have been enrolled at the institution. Since mid-April, 47 international students, most of them from Africa, have found themselves in an administrative deadlock because they are unable to pay in full the increased tuition fees of €3,941 per year, 16 times more than what French or European students in the same program pay.
The “Bienvenue en France” plan introduced these “differentiated fees” in 2019, requiring each university to develop its own admissions policy, with the option to grant full or partial exemptions to 10% of non-European Union students. Six years on, three-quarters of university presidents have largely disregarded the policy, arguing that it runs counter to academic values.
But the higher education minister announced on Tuesday, April 21, that he wants to reverse this trend, as he unveiled the Choose France for Higher Education plan, aimed at boosting the appeal of French higher education. “Differentiated fees are now the rule; exemption is the exception,” said Minister Philippe Baptiste, in an interview with newspaper Le Parisien published the previous day.
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