03 social support for students

At the start of the 2013-2014 academic year, the number of students receiving support stood at more than 660,000, or approximately 35% of students enrolled for a course for which a grant was available. In all, the amount of financial and social support provided came to almost €6 billion in 2013, compared with €3.5 bn in 1995.

In higher education, over 660,000 students were receiving at least some form of financial aid at the start of the 2013-2014 academic year (table 03.01a and table 03.01b). The proportion of students benefitting in this way was stable against the previous year. More than one third of students (34.8%) enrolled for a course for which a grant was available (see opposite) received support, a much higher proportion than was observed at the start of 2008-2009 (29.3% of students supported in 2007, 32.7% in 2008). At this point the income ceilings for awarding a grant based on social criteria were raised in order to increase the number of beneficiaries. The number of students whose grants are based on social criteria, and who now represent 96% of assisted students, increased by 1.7% in 2013, whereas fewer requests are now made to the national emergency aid fund (Fonds national d'aide d'urgence - FNAU) (aid on a one-off or annual basis). The proportion of student grant-holders is slightly down in universities (34.8%). It is stable in classes preparing for admission to Grandes Ecoles (Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles - CPGE) (27.9%) and in the Advanced technician's section (Section de technicien supérieur - STS) (45.3%), the branch of study where the proportion is highest (chart 03.02).

However, these data do not cover the entire range of financial, social, and fiscal support, both direct and indirect, that students may receive.

In addition to scholarships, loans and grants (including emergency aid) provided by the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research (Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - MENESR), direct support in 2013 consisted of Social housing benefit (Allocation de logement à caractère social - ALS) and Personalised housing benefit (Aide personnalisée au logement - APL) both paid by the National Family Allowance Fund (Caisse nationale d'allocations familiales - CNAF), as well as various tax benefits (tax reduction for a dependent student, granting of an additional half-share allowance when the student is attached to the parents' tax household). Lastly, indirect support is available. This includes support services provided by the French Regional Student Services Agency (Centre régional des œuvres universitaires et scolaires - CROUS), support for associations, exemption from payment of tuition fees for grant-holders, university medical and social staff and from the charge levied due to the deficit in the student social security system.

In 2013, this student support amounted to a total of almost €6 bn, compared with €3.5 bn in 1995, an increase of more than 65% at current prices and 28% at constant prices (table 03.03).

International comparisons published by the OECD of the support students receive show only grants and loans awarded by the State, which in France amounts to about €1.8 bn. Thus the ALS and APL, and also tax benefits, which represented €2.9 bn in 2013, are not taken into account in the OECD indicators. The amount used for these international comparisons therefore under-estimates the total amount of support that students in fact receive. If these benefits were taken into consideration under the heading of public support, in the same way as grants, then the share of aid provided by the State would rise from 8.0% to 19.7% (2011 data) of public spending on higher education (chart 03.04).

Laurence Dauphin & Aline Landreau