Scholarships and financial aid for French students

Calculate your family expense points (points de charge) and your CROUS bursary (fr.).

Depending on your parents’ income and your family expense points, the Crous will assign you to one of eight CROUS levels.

Levels 0bis to 7 entitle you to the status of higher education bursary-holder. This means you qualify for a tuition fee waiver in addition to receiving an annual bursary for the amount shown in the table below.

Amount of the CROUS annual bursary (scale for the 2023/2024 academic year):

If you are a dual degree student, the CROUS bursary can only be validated by one institution per year. If you have your bursary validated by another institution (with the exception of the dual Bachelor’s programmes with Sorbonne University (faculty of Arts) and Panthéon-Sorbonne University, the BASc or University of Lorraine), you will not be considered a bursary-holder at Sciences Po and your tuition fees will be calculated by the Administrative registration Office.

Applying for a bursary

To apply for a CROUS bursary: complete your Student Social File (DSE).

Step-by-step user guide to completing your student social file: English version (PDF, 900 Ko)

Important information: Sciences Po’s Scholarships and Financial Aid Office only validates bursaries managed by the Paris regional education authority (excluding the Menton campus).

• High school students sitting the last session of the baccalauréat: if your file is managed by a regional education authority other than Paris, once you have received your conditional notification you need to request that your file be transferred from your home CROUS to the Paris CROUS (excluding the Menton campus).
• Students enrolled on a regional campus (excluding the Menton campus) are strongly advised to indicate their first preference (preference 1) within the Paris education authority « PARIS IEP 7e » and a second preference in the education authority of the regional campus « PARIS IEP 7e - site Campus ». This will avoid students having to request the transfer of their CROUS application at the end of the process.
• For students enrolled on the Menton campus : your Crous application is managed by the Nice-Toulon local education authority. You should make your request to the Nice-Toulon local education authority (PARIS IEP 7e -campus de Menton). High school students sitting the last session of the baccalauréat: if your application is managed by another regional education authority other than Nice-Toulon, you will need to request that your file be transferred from your home CROUS to the Nice-Toulon CROUS.

Track your bursary application

You can track the status of your application by logging into your CROUS online account.

Receive your bursary

• To obtain a tuition fee waiver from Sciences Po, you must upload your “conditional notification” (PDF in French, 58 KB) from CROUS when you complete your online administrative registration. If you have not received your conditional notification when completing your administrative registration, you should declare yourself as a Crous bursary student and provide the conditional notification at a later date.
• Your “conditional notification” will allow the Sciences Po’s Scholarships and Financial Aid Office to confirm your registration at Sciences Po with the Paris CROUS (Nice-Toulon for the Menton campus) and thereby initiate payment of your bursary. CROUS will then send you a “final notification” (PDF in French, 42 KB).
• CROUS is responsible for paying your bursary. You will be able to track the payment on your CROUS online account.
• Merit scholarships (l’aide au mérite) are managed by the CROUS and paid in nine monthly instalments to students who received the grade of “very good” for their baccalauréat (provided it appears on the final notification). This aid cannot be combined with the additional Sciences Po cost of living bursary. If the aid is less than the cost of living bursary, Sciences Po automatically pays the difference.

Sciences Po supplements the CROUS bursary with an automatic additional cost of living bursary equivalent to 75% of the amount disbursed by the Crous, provided that the student does not benefit from the CROUS merit bursary. The additional cost of living bursary is disbursed to students registered at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Amount of the additional cost of living bursary funded by Sciences Po (2023-2024):

The Sciences Po cost of living bursary is paid automatically in ten monthly instalments from September to June provided that your administrative registration and your course registration have been finalised. To receive the Sciences Po top-up bursary, make sure that your personal bank details (RIB) are entered in your Sciences Po online area (“administrative services, housing and financial aid”, “registration file and certificates”, “to enter your bank account details – optional.”).

Third year abroad students

Students carrying out a study abroad of 9 months of more will be able to obtain the maximum amount of distance points.

If applicable, we advise you to upload an explanatory letter and an enrollment certificate issued by the partner university to your Student Social File (DSE).

Suspension of studies

If you suspend your studies, CROUS must be informed and your bursary will be suspended. If you do not notify the CROUS, you will lose your entitlement to the bursary when you return to study. Please also notify the administrator of your file or the Sciences Po’s Scholarships and Financial Aid Office that you are suspending your studies.

Exemption from attendance

If you have an exemption of attendance from the Inter-University Preventive Medicine-Health Promotion Service (SIUMMPS), you must notify the Sciences Po’s Scholarships and Financial Aid Office. Your certificate should also be added to your DSE online.

Extra annual entitlement by special dispensation

If you suspend your studies or repeat a year due to personal difficulties confirmed by the Inter-University Preventive Medicine-Health Promotion Service (SIUMMPS), you may be entitled to an additional year’s bursary per level of study (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD).

CROUS bursary-holders with a disability recognised by the Commission for the Rights and Autonomy of Persons with Disabilities can claim three additional annual bursaries.

To benefit from a bursary entitlement that you didn’t use as an undergraduate, you will have to complete your DSE with an academic notice signed by both the former and current programme secretariat.

Gap year

If you decide to take a gap year, the CROUS bursary is maintained as long as you have the CROUS conditional notification for the current academic year. Sciences Po informs the Crous of your gap year when validating your bursary. The additional cost of living bursary awarded by Science Po is suspended.

Master’s programme with apprenticeship component

If you choose to do your Master’s programme through an apprenticeship, you are no longer eligible for the bursary (CROUS circular, Article 4 relating to award criteria).

Indeed, an apprenticeship gives you the status of an employee, with a minimum monthly salary of 61% of the French minimum wage (SMIC) for the 12 months of your work-study program. You can obtain other forms of financial assistance: Prime d'activité (activity allowance), housing subsidies (CAF website), driving licence subsidies, Aide Mobili-Jeune (Mobili-Jeune subsidy to help pay the rent), and/or regional subsidies.

For more information on apprenticeship (FR).

Dual degree programmes

For students enrolled in a dual degree programme, financial aid is managed according to the agreement between the two institutions. The principle is as follows: the student is subject to the rules of tuition fees and depends on the scholarship system of the institution in which he or she is  studying. For more information or if you have any questions about your particular situation, we invite you to contact us.

One-year Master’s programmes

One-year Master's programs are not eligible for CROUS scholarships, nor are they eligible for tuition fee waivers or the Sciences Po additional cost of living bursary. Specific financial aid exists for these programmes.