Other sources of assistance

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Scholarships based on financial need, mobility grants, emergency grants... Various sources of aid outside the university are available to help you to pursue your studies in good conditions.

Photo : CROUS accommodations are allocated to scholarship students based on social criteria - Ausone Residence in Pessac © Bordeaux-Aquitaine CROUS
CROUS accommodations are allocated to scholarship students based on social criteria - Ausone Residence in Pessac © Bordeaux-Aquitaine CROUS

Grants based on social criteria

This financial aid from the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research is subject to two conditions:

  • Be under 28 years old on September 1st of the academic year
  • Take a training course or degree programme eligible for admitting scholarship students.

The aid is awarded based on three criteria:

  • Income of the tax household
  • The number of children dependent on the tax household
  • Distance from the place of study

A national scale is used to allocate financial aid to students based on these factors.

The application for a grant must be made even before taking the end-of-year exams or choosing a future course of study.
The application is done via the Student Social File (DSE), which allows students to make up to four choices in different regional education authorities (académies).

Students can only present one file each even if they are applying for admission to several establishments or if they are applying for several grants, regardless of the regional education authority.

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CROUS: two types of financial aid

Annual aid

Specific annual aid is limited and allocated on a case-by-case basis.
It concerns students:

  • who are returning to study after the age of 28 and whose resources do not exceed the threshold set by the scholarship allocation scale,
  • who do not have any family ties,
  • who are independent from their family.

The amounts of annual aid are equivalent to those of scholarships. It confers scholarship status, and allows the student to apply for a  refund of tuition fees and student social security contributions.

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One-off financial aid

Specific, one-off aid is open to all students enrolled in higher education.
Scholarship and non-scholarship students can apply for it.

It does not confer scholarship status and is managed by CROUS social services.