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The cost of student living is rising again and getting closer to minimum wage

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The Editor

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It's official, the new Unef report has just been released, highlighting troubling data for French students, particularly a cost of living that keeps on rising. 

Is pursuing higher education becoming a real luxury? That's what the latest annual study from student union Unef, released Monday, August 17, 2026, suggests. It notably highlights that the cost of student living increased by 1.66% between 2025 and 2026 — a trend that's been continuous for ten years — reaching €1,300 in monthly out-of-pocket expenses, once various aid is accounted for. For comparison, a minimum wage at 35 hours currently stands at €1,477.93.


Housing and transport eat up the entire budget

The findings are sobering, for both scholarship and non-scholarship students alike. The increases are measured at the housing level — + 2.87 % of private rents (€627 monthly on average, and up to €857 in the Île-de-France region) and + 1.04 % of CROUS housing — as well as at the transportation level: scholarship students saw costs increase by 3.07 % (€254.14), and non-scholarship students by 2.29 % (€278.59).

Inflation also plays, sadly, a central role. Each year, it widens further: food products have experienced an increase of 0.87 % in one year, and 30.4 % in ten years! If the €1 meal has been put in place, the reality is that a significant lack of resources prevents all students who would need it from being able to benefit from it.  

The analysis also highlights that these disparities are not uniform and that certain geographical areas are more affected than others : while major cities are highly sought after and see their prices skyrocket, provincial territories have too limited an offer, forcing young people to relocate to pursue their studies. For international students, these costs are even more significant : since this summer, they can no longer receive housing assistance (APL).


Registration fees nearly €100 more expensive than a decade ago

This significant increase is also explained by registration fees that have risen considerably in less than a decade. If in 2017, a bachelor's degree registration cost €184, in 2026, it reaches €283 per year. For a master's degree, you had to pay €256, while in 2026, annual registration comes to €360.