“The number of students receiving scholarships is decreasing while insecurity is increasing”

This article appeared in “Le Monde de l’Éducation”. If you subscribe WorldYou can subscribe to this weekly letter by following this link.

Announced several times and constantly postponed, structural reform of student grants – a campaign promise of President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and then in 2022 – is still a must.

During the general assembly of French Universities at the end of August, the Minister of Higher Education indicated that scholarship reform was not warranted and that it was “It will depend(he) budget arbitration »while assuring university presidents that research programming laws would be maintained. The 2026 finance bill also confirms these concerns: not only have structural reforms of scholarships not yet been carried out, but cuts of 25 million euros are also planned for student life programs.

Regarding this, we would like to convey a message to national representatives and governments: to invest in the future, there is no need choose between research and youth. In the context of ever-increasing student precariousness, allowing each generation of young people to continue their studies in good conditions is a key issue regarding equality of opportunity that makes the current promises of the Republican Party lose their credibility.

Structural vulnerability

Students are one of the first victims of economic, social and political instability in the country. The rising cost of living, the housing crisis, uncertainty regarding aid, lack of prospects for professional integration: their daily lives are characterized by structural precariousness that worsens year by year.

Also read | Student insecurity: urgency of scholarship reform highlighted in parliamentary report

According to the Observatory of Student Life, the average monthly income of students in 2023 will be 1,129 euros, or 87 euros below the poverty line in France (according to INSEE, in 2022). Successive surveys conducted by the Student Life Observatory reveal increasing levels of vulnerability. In 2023, 30% of students said they did not have enough resources to meet their monthly needs, compared to 26% in 2020. Only 52% said they were able to eat well, while 34% had to stop treatment for financial reasons.

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