Top 10 Fully Funded Scholarships in France 2026/2027

France is the world’s most popular non-English-speaking study destination for a simple reason: the French state keeps public-university tuition low and then funds international talent on top. For 2026/2027, a master’s student at a French public university typically pays national registration fees measured in hundreds of euros rather than the five-figure sums charged in the US, UK or the Netherlands — although differentiated (higher) fees can apply to non-EU students at some institutions, and private grandes écoles and business schools charge far more. Against that low-fee background, a French scholarship does not always need to pay tuition to change your life: a strong monthly allowance can be the difference between going and not going.

That is also why French funding must be read precisely. The flagship France Excellence Eiffel scholarship pays a generous monthly allowance — €1,200 per month at master’s level and €2,100 per month at doctoral level from January 2026 — plus travel, insurance and housing-search support, but it explicitly does not cover tuition fees. Sciences Po’s famous Émile Boutmy award does the opposite: it pays tuition and nothing toward living costs. Neither fact makes the award bad; both facts belong in your budget before you apply. Every entry in this guide is therefore labelled honestly — Fully funded, Tuition + stipend, Allowance only or Tuition grant only — and every amount was checked against official Campus France, university or programme sources in October 2026.

The realistic summary for 2026/2027: Erasmus Mundus is the one route that is fully funded in the full sense almost everywhere it runs; a salaried French doctoral contract is the research equivalent; Eiffel plus France’s low public fees (and the fee exemptions that often accompany French government scholarship status at public institutions) gets many master’s students close to fully funded in practice; and university awards such as Paris-Saclay’s €10,000 international master’s scholarship are powerful allowances that still need a personal budget behind them. Use this guide with our scholarship directory and the university directory to match programmes to funding, and compare French institutions in our global rankings before you commit.

France Scholarships 2026/2027 at a Glance

Two patterns matter. First, France rewards students who apply to the institution first: Eiffel, Paris-Saclay and several others are nomination-based — you cannot apply to Campus France directly for Eiffel, and Paris-Saclay invites only admitted students. Second, allowances in France go further than the same euros elsewhere in Western Europe because public tuition is low and scholarship holders typically also gain access to CROUS student housing priority and subsidised student services. Low fee plus allowance is the French version of fully funded — but only at public institutions, which is why the institution you choose matters as much as the award.

The 10 France Scholarships in Detail

1. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters — fully funded, with French partners throughout the catalogue

Coverage: Fully funded. Participation costs are covered through the consortium and scholars receive €1,400 per month for up to 24 months toward travel, visa, installation and living costs. French universities coordinate or partner in many consortia, so an Erasmus Mundus award frequently includes one or two semesters in France — in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Nantes and beyond. Eligibility: A bachelor’s degree (or final-year status), all nationalities, programme-specific requirements; apply directly to each consortium (maximum three programmes), never to the EU. Deadline: Most windows run October to January for the following academic year. Official overview: Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (Erasmus+). Read our standalone Erasmus Mundus guide and the Europe-wide list of the top 30 fully funded scholarships in Europe for international students 2027 for consortium-hunting strategy.

2. France Excellence Eiffel — the flagship allowance (tuition not included)

Coverage: Allowance only — stated plainly because so many blogs get this wrong. From January 2026, master’s holders receive €1,200 per month and doctoral holders €2,100 per month, plus international and national transport, insurance, housing-search assistance and cultural activities. Tuition fees are not covered by the programme for either level; in practice, French government scholarship holders at public institutions are generally exempt from the national registration fees, but a private institution’s tuition remains yours to pay. Eligibility: Foreign nationals in seven fields — biology and health, ecological transition, mathematics and digital, engineering sciences, history/French language and civilisation, law and political science, economics and management. Master’s candidates are nominated while not already studying in France, with an age limit around 29 at selection in recent regulations; PhD candidates (limit around 35) apply under a joint-supervision (cotutelle) arrangement. Duration: up to 12 months (M2), 24 months (M1) or 36 months (engineering) at master’s level; 12–36 months in France at doctoral level. Deadline: You never apply directly — a French institution submits your file to Campus France. For the 2027 cycle the call opened on 2 October 2026 and institutions must submit by 6 January 2027, with results announced in April 2027; your real deadline is your chosen institution’s internal one, usually in November or December. Official programme page: Campus France — France Excellence Eiffel.

3. Doctoral contracts and CIFRE — France’s fully funded PhD route

Coverage: Fully funded through employment. The standard French doctorate is a three-year salaried research contract (contrat doctoral) with a university or research organisation, or a CIFRE contract in which a company employs you while you research with an academic laboratory. Tuition for the doctorate itself is a small annual registration fee, and your salary — set by national terms for public contracts and by the company for CIFRE, so check the figure in the specific offer — covers living costs. Eligibility: A master’s degree (or equivalent) and a precise fit with a funded project or a supervisor willing to host a funded candidacy; doctoral schools run competitive selections each spring and summer. Deadline: Doctoral-school competitions cluster between March and July for October starts; CIFRE positions appear year-round. For research-minded readers this, not a master’s scholarship, is France’s deepest funding pool.

4. ENS International Selection — Paris and Lyon

Coverage: Tuition + stipend. The Écoles Normales Supérieures run an International Selection for outstanding students entering master’s study combined with the ENS diploma. In recent calls the award has carried a monthly grant of around €1,000 for up to three years alongside the training — confirm the amount in the current call, as ENS Paris and ENS de Lyon publish separate calls and terms. Eligibility: Students who have completed at least two years of higher education outside France with exceptional results, typically under 26, in sciences or humanities depending on the school. Selection includes written and oral examinations — this is an academic competition, not a paperwork exercise. Deadline: Applications open in autumn for the following year; examination sessions follow in winter. Treat the preparation like an olympiad, not a formality.

5. Sciences Po Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

Coverage: Fully funded for its target group. Sciences Po is one of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program’s partner universities, and admitted scholars from sub-Saharan Africa receive comprehensive support covering the real cost of their Sciences Po master’s under the programme’s terms — the closest thing to a full ride at a French grande école. Eligibility: Citizens and residents of sub-Saharan African countries, generally aged under 35 for master’s entry in recent calls, admitted to an eligible Sciences Po master’s, with a record of academic excellence and community engagement. Deadline: Set per call alongside Sciences Po’s graduate admissions calendar; places are limited and the application is part of the Sciences Po admission process. If you are outside the target group, entry 7 is your Sciences Po route instead.

6. Université Paris-Saclay International Master’s Scholarships

Coverage: Allowance only: €10,000 per year, paid monthly from September to June, plus a travel and visa allowance of up to €900 depending on your country of origin. The university states clearly that payments begin only after you arrive in France and register, and that no advance payment is possible. The amount reduces during months spent abroad or on internships outside affiliated laboratories. Eligibility: International students under 30, newly arrived in France, admitted to an eligible Paris-Saclay master’s (all master’s programmes except vocational/apprenticeship tracks, across AgroParisTech, CentraleSupélec, ENS Paris-Saclay and partner institutions), and not holding other funding above €600 per month; it cannot be combined with Eiffel, Europa or Erasmus Mundus. An M1 laureate who progresses to M2 renews automatically. Deadline: There is no open application — admitted students are pre-selected by programme coordinators and invited by email to complete the scholarship form, which is why your admission application must be submitted early in the cycle. Official page: Université Paris-Saclay — International Master’s Scholarships Program.

7. Émile Boutmy Scholarship, Sciences Po — a tuition grant, honestly labelled

Coverage: Tuition grant only. For undergraduates, recent cycles offered tuition grants of €14,720, €9,500 or €6,500 per year for the three-year programme (with an exceptional €19,000 total award possible); for master’s students, a grant of €13,100 toward tuition in recent cycles. It pays nothing toward rent, food or flights — at Sciences Po’s Paris living costs you need a separate living budget, although Boutmy holders may also qualify for Sciences Po’s need-based bursaries in some cases. Eligibility: First-time Sciences Po applicants from outside the EU whose household does not file taxes in the EU; Swiss and Norwegian candidates and several dual-degree categories are excluded. Deadline: You request Boutmy consideration inside the Sciences Po admission application — there is no separate later application, so do not miss the checkbox and the financial-information section.

8. Université Grenoble Alpes — IdEx International Master’s Scholarships

Coverage: Allowance only: €8,000 per year in recent IdEx calls for international students entering eligible master’s programmes at Université Grenoble Alpes, in the French Alps — a city where student living costs run noticeably below Paris, so €8,000 plus low public tuition comes close to a working full package for a careful budgeter. Eligibility: International applicants admitted to a participating UGA master’s; selection rides on the strength of the programme application. Deadline: Applications are made with or immediately after the programme application in spring; amounts and the programme list are confirmed per call on UGA’s official site.

9. France Excellence Europa

Coverage: Allowance only (partial). Developed by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs for students from EU member states coming to France for a master’s, Europa has in published calls paid a half-yearly allowance of €6,850 plus an installation allowance of €1,700, without covering tuition. Most StudyGraduate readers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria or Indonesia are not eligible — it is included because dual EU nationals in our audience are, and because many lists mislabel it as a global full ride. Eligibility: EU nationals (outside France) entering an M1 or M2 at a French institution. Deadline: Per call, in spring, via Campus France.

10. Embassy and bilateral French Government scholarships — including Charpak (India)

Coverage: Varies — some are tuition + stipend packages. Beyond the national flagships, French embassies and Campus France offices run country-level schemes. The best documented for our audience is India’s Charpak programme: its AME (Master’s) scholarship has in recent calls combined a monthly living allowance (around €860 per month) with a tuition waiver and student visa fee exemption, while Charpak’s research and exchange strands fund shorter stays. Other countries’ French embassy scholarships — including schemes run with partners in Africa and Asia — differ in value and are published locally, sometimes with little notice. Eligibility: Nationality- and country-specific; Charpak is for Indian nationals applying to study in France. Deadline: Per country call — follow your national Campus France office from autumn onward and treat any scheme you cannot find on an official embassy or Campus France page as unverified.

Who Is Eligible?

The typical funded student in France is a non-French national with an excellent bachelor’s record applying for a master’s (the level where almost all French scholarship money sits), or a master’s graduate targeting a funded doctorate. Eiffel adds field restrictions and age limits (around 29 for master’s, 35 for PhD in recent regulations) and requires nomination by a French institution; Paris-Saclay adds an under-30 rule and a no-stacking rule above €600 per month from other sources; ENS adds examinations; Sciences Po’s routes add their own residency and first-time-applicant conditions. Language is programme-specific: many funded master’s in France are English-taught, but French-taught programmes require French (usually B2–C1) and some funders view French ability as a selection strength even for English-taught study. If your plan depends on part-time work, note that a French student residence permit generally allows work up to 964 hours per year — helpful for top-ups, not a funding strategy.

How to Apply: Step by Step

1. Choose institutions with funding attached. Map each target programme to its route in the table: Eiffel nomination, Paris-Saclay invitation, Boutmy-in-application, or a doctoral-school competition. Our study-abroad guides can help you compare destinations before you narrow to France.
2. Apply for admission months before you think you need to. Non-EU applicants in many countries apply through the Études en France platform by Campus France; institutional internal deadlines for Eiffel nomination typically fall in November–December, well before national platform closing dates.
3. Tell the institution you want nomination. For Eiffel, contact the programme and the university’s international office explicitly — institutions can only nominate students they know about, and each runs its own internal selection.
4. Complete the scholarship layer: the Boutmy section inside the Sciences Po application, the Paris-Saclay form when the invitation email arrives, or the doctoral school’s competition file.
5. Prepare documents early (below) — transcripts, degree, language certificates, CV, motivation letter, and for PhD/Eiffel-doctoral routes a research outline and a French co-supervisor where cotutelle applies.
6. After a scholarship decision, complete Études en France / visa steps with your award letter as financial proof; French government scholarship holders follow the Campus France scholarship-holder procedure in their country.
7. On arrival, activate the practical package: CROUS housing steps, health-insurance registration, and the residence-permit validation — your monthly allowance only flows once you are registered and, for Paris-Saclay, physically in France.

Required Documents

• Passport and, where required, birth certificate with certified French translation for administrative steps.
• Degree certificates and transcripts (with translations where the institution requires them).
• Language certificates: DELF/DALF for French-taught programmes, IELTS/TOEFL or accepted proof for English-taught ones.
• CV and a motivation letter addressed to the specific programme — French committees read for academic coherence, not adjectives.
• Reference letters (commonly two) for excellence and doctoral routes.
• For Eiffel doctoral and doctoral-contract routes: research project outline and supervisor/cotutelle documentation.
• For Boutmy and need-aware routes: household financial and tax information as requested in the application.

Deadlines and Timeline for 2026/2027 Entry

Dates for the current cycle are given as published; where a university has not yet published its 2027 date, the table describes the recent cycle’s pattern and says the live date must be confirmed on the official page.

How to Improve Your Chances

Win the admission, win the money. Because Eiffel and Paris-Saclay are nomination systems, your real application is your admission file: grades, a coherent study plan, and referees who can rank you against peers. Contact institutions early and by name — a November email to a programme director asking about Eiffel nomination is normal in France and expected of serious candidates. Learn some French even for English-taught programmes: committees funding France’s international attractiveness notice, and daily life, housing and part-time work all run in French. Target public institutions when your funding is allowance-based: an allowance plus public fees can be fully funded in practice, while the same allowance at a €20,000-per-year private school is a partial grant. Prepare the ENS selection like an examination, because it is one. And keep a second route warm — Erasmus Mundus deadlines (October–January) overlap Eiffel’s, and a doctoral applicant should enter several doctoral schools’ competitions in the same season.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Applying to Campus France for Eiffel directly. There is no direct application; only institutions submit files.
• Budgeting Eiffel as if it paid tuition. It does not — confirm your fee status (public vs differentiated vs private) in your plan.
• Missing the institution’s internal deadline while watching the Campus France date. The internal date is the real one.
• Assuming Paris-Saclay has an open scholarship form. It is invitation-only, after admission.
• Trying to stack incompatible awards: Paris-Saclay cannot be combined with Eiffel, Europa or Erasmus Mundus, and excludes other funding above €600/month.
• Forgetting living costs in Paris when an award is tuition-only (Boutmy) — Sciences Po’s tuition grant plus Paris rent still leaves a large annual budget to find.
• Trusting “fully funded France” agent lists that present ended or EU-only schemes (Europa) as open to everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Eiffel Scholarship fully funded?

Not in the strict sense. From January 2026 it pays €1,200 per month (master’s) or €2,100 per month (PhD) plus travel, insurance and housing support, but tuition fees are not covered by the programme. At a public university — where scholarship holders are generally exempt from national registration fees — the package works out close to fully funded in practice; at a private institution you must still pay tuition.

Can I apply for Eiffel myself on the Campus France website?

No. French higher-education institutions select and submit candidates. Your job is to secure admission (or an admission-track relationship) with a French institution early enough for its internal selection, typically by November–December for the January Campus France deadline.

Which France scholarship is genuinely fully funded for a master’s?

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, where a French university is in the consortium: participation costs plus €1,400 per month. For African applicants admitted to Sciences Po, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is the other genuinely comprehensive master’s route. Everything else in this guide is an allowance or tuition award that you combine with France’s low public fees and your own budget.

How much does it cost to live as a student in France?

Budgets vary sharply by city: Paris is the most expensive (plan well above €1,200 per month all-in), while Grenoble, Lyon, Nantes or Montpellier are substantially cheaper. Campus France publishes city-level student budget guidance — use it, not a global average, when testing whether an allowance covers you.

Do I need French to win a scholarship in France?

Not for English-taught programmes, which carry their own language requirements. But French ability strengthens applications, is required for French-taught programmes (usually B2–C1), and materially affects housing, work and daily life. Funders notice candidates who have started learning.

Can scholarship holders work part-time in France?

A student residence permit generally allows up to 964 hours of work per year. Treat earnings as a top-up: no French scholarship in this guide requires you to work, and your studies and award-renewal conditions come first.

What is the cheapest credible route to a funded master’s in France?

An allowance award (Paris-Saclay, Grenoble IdEx or an embassy scheme) attached to a public-university master’s outside Paris, where low registration fees plus €8,000–€10,000 a year covers most of a careful budget. That combination — not a headline “full ride” — is how most funded students in France actually do it.

Are 2027-cycle dates final?

Eiffel’s 2027-cycle dates are published (institutions submit by 6 January 2027; results in April 2027). Other schemes confirm dates per call; where this guide cites a recent cycle’s pattern, confirm the live date on the official page before planning travel or resigning a job.

Sources & Verification

Facts were checked in October 2026 against official sources, including: Campus France — France Excellence Eiffel Scholarship Program (allowances of €1,200/€2,100 from January 2026; tuition not covered; 2027-cycle timeline); Institut français / Campus France network — Eiffel programme details; Université Paris-Saclay — International Master’s Scholarships Program (€10,000/year + up to €900 travel/visa; nomination only); Sciences Po’s Émile Boutmy and Mastercard Foundation pages; and Erasmus+ — Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters. Where an amount is described as “in recent calls,” re-confirm it in the current call before relying on it.

Disclaimer: Scholarship details, amounts and deadlines change every cycle. Always confirm deadlines and amounts on the official website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency or a university — we cannot promise selection, admission or visa approval, and no legitimate scholarship requires you to pay an agent to apply.