Fees rise ‘will not deter African students’

In spite of the substantial increase in French university fees for international students from outside the European Union, many African students will still want to study in France because of the quality of the education, claims a French academic study.

France is the leading non-anglophone country for foreign students from outside the EU, with 46% of the 350,000 non-EU international students in France from Africa, reported the Agence d’Information d’Afrique Centrale (ADIAC).

Moroccans are the biggest national group, representing 12%, followed by Algerians (9%), Chinese (9%), Italians (4%) and Senegalese (3%).

The French government has announced it intends to increase fees for non-EU students from €170 to €2,770 (US$194 to US$3,170) a year for a three-year bachelor-equivalent degree course, and from €243 to €3,770 for a masters. Approving the increase, France’s council of state pointed out that the poorest international students were eligible for grants and exemptions from fees.

In spite of African students’ concern following the decision, Fabien Chareix, an academic at the Sorbonne University in Paris who conducted research on the issue, said foreign students were not guided in their choice to study in France by cost, but by academic excellence and the value of the degree.

ADIAC also reported that the French system for welcoming and catering for foreign students was a component of France’s strategy for promoting its influence abroad – “French soft power”.

More and more African students were opting to study abroad, and not only in those countries which offered grants or with which they had close linguistic ties, said Chareix. It was the quality of the reception, support, guidance, social protection and academic excellence that France could offer them. – Compiled by Jane Marshall.

This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.