Sciences Po Student Services: Helping all our Talents Succeed

Francesca Cabiddu: In addition to exceptional academic training and a stimulating study environment, our campuses also offer students a wide range of resources and services. The aim of all of these is to guarantee the quality of life at Sciences Po and to allow students to thrive throughout the entirety of their studies. Help finding or securing accommodation, financial support, health and well-being, accessibility improvements for disabled students: whatever the needs of our students, staff guarantee assistance that is attentive to personal circumstances and adapted to the requirements of each.

For example, when it comes to accommodation support, we make hundreds of individual or shared housing offers available to students each year. Our partnerships with public and private bodies allow us to obtain preferential rates on rent and priority access to local leases on every campus.

The activities of our student services are founded on the values of approachability, respect and openness, while also encouraging student responsibility and autonomy. We collaborate closely with Sciences Po’s Graduate Schools and campuses, who provide the university’s most direct contact point for students.

FC: From the moment of admission, the Student Services Center is the primary contact guiding new arrivals through their first steps at Sciences Po:#PretPourMaRentrée for the steps that need to be taken before one’s arrival in France, distribute the university’s Student Guide, communicate information about the start of year events and make sure all new students are aware of how to contact the necessary support staff.

Thus, to facilitate the integration of new students and to help them with the various administrative procedures that accompany starting university, Sciences Po organises a ‘Meet the Services’ event during the induction period. This event provides an introduction to a significant number of our student services and partners.

This collective mobilisation of our services is also reinforced by a peer-led induction programme. Student ambassadors appointed on all our campuses can supply answers to any questions and are our most effective way of liaising with students on the ground.

Above and beyond our start of year induction events, the support we provide all year round follows a convenient “one-stop-shop” approach. That means that students can find all the information, advice and support they need for extracurricular procedures in a single and centralised location, both on-site and online.

Dedicated services are provided for international students who are, for example, receiving assistence in obtaining and/or renewing their residence permit. This concerns the several hundred students we assist individually each year. As a reminder, Sciences Po has 49% international students.

In 2020, Sciences Po was awarded the Bienvenue en France label, which recognizes the quality of the welcome and integration activities put in place for international students.

FC: In line with the groundbreaking commitment Sciences Po made to advancing equal opportunities more than 15 years ago, the university has a particularly active policy of inclusion for students with disabilities and for refugees. More than 650 disabled students are currently enrolled at Sciences Po, while our professional certificate and linguistic programme, Tremplin, are open to 80 young refugees every year.

The teams of the Student Services Center will continue their mission in all areas, in person, and now also online for greater reach: support with administrative procedures before and after arrival in France and on campus, health, financial aid, helping with specific needs of students with disabilities, etc. Everything is done to guarantee the best conditions for studying and to help students succeed.

Numerous services developed during the health crisis period are being continued: loaning of computers, assistance with connection, food distributions, workshops to facilitate student life in the day to day, etc.

With the opening of a Student Services Center in September 2021, it has become possible to strengthen and make all student life services more visible and comprehensible, and our students now have access to an innovative, connected, and accessible reception and support area.