The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program 2025

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program was established by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to enable French higher education institutions to attract top foreign students to enroll in their masters and PhD programs.

• Nationality. The Eiffel Program is reserved for non-French nationals. Candidates with two nationalities of which one is French are not eligible.

• Age. Candidates for the master’s component must be 25 or under at the time of the 2025 competition—that is, they must have been born after March 1999. Candidates for the doctoral component must be 30 or under at the time of the 2025 competition; they must have been born after March 1994.
• Source of applications. Only applications submitted by French educational institutions will be accepted. These institutions commit to admitting awardees to the academic program specified in the application. Applications from any other source shall not be considered. Any candidate nominated by more than one institution shall be disqualified.
• Academic levels targeted. Eiffel Program scholarships are intended for students seeking to enroll in a master's-level program in France (including at a school of engineering) and for doctoral candidates. Only programs recognized by the French government are eligible. The Eiffel Program cannot be used at French-run programs abroad or in connection with apprenticeship contracts or professional training contracts.
• Scholarship conflicts. Applications nominating students who, at the time of application, have already been awarded another French government scholarship will not be accepted, even if the other scholarship covered only health insurance.
• Master’s component. An application nominating a student rejected in a previous competition will not be accepted, even if the application was submitted by a different institution or in another field of study. Students who have previously received an Eiffel master’s scholarship are not eligible to receive another at the master’s level.
• Doctoral component. Institutions may nominate for a doctoral scholarship a candidate previously awarded a scholarship at the master’s level. Candidates previously awarded a doctoral scholarship are not eligible to receive another. An applications nominating a candidate rejected in a previous competition will not be accepted, even if the application was submitted by a different institution or in another field of study.
• Language proficiency. When preselecting non-French-speaking candidates, institutions shall ensure that the candidates’ language skills meet the requirements of the academic program.
• Students enrolled in academic programs abroad have priority over students already in France.

Duration of the scholarship

• For both components of the program, the scholarship is awarded for the academic year corresponding to the call for applications.
• The funded study period must begin between September 1 and December 31 of the year in which the scholarship is awarded. The start date cannot be postponed.
• The scholarship may be used solely for academic work performed in France, except in certain cases involving internships and exchange periods

Master’s component

The Eiffel scholarship consists of a monthly allowance of €1,181 (a maintenance allowance of €1,031 plus a stipend of €150). In addition, the following benefits are provided:

• International air travel. Round-trip international air travel between the awardee’s home country and France. The student awardee has one year from the end of the scholarship to take advantage of the return trip benefit.
• Train travel within France. Campus France will provide a train ticket to the awardee’s first study location and a second ticket from the last study location to the airport from which the awardee will return to his or her home country.
• Local transportation. Reimbursement of up to €50 of the cost of travel via taxi or public transportation from the airport or train station to the first study location.
• Health insurance. For awardees from outside the European Economic Area, Campus France will provide health insurance coverage until the effective date of the awardee’s enrollment in the French Social Security system.
• Supplemental health insurance (“mutuelle”). Within 2 months of arriving in France, student awardees are required to subscribe to a supplemental health insurance plan, the cost of which is reimbursed upon presentation of proof of enrollment up to a maximum amount set each year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The maximum is unrelated to the length of enrollment. Campus France may suspend payment of living expenses and related services if the student awardee does not provide proof of enrollment in a supplemental insurance plan within 2 months of his or her arrival in France.

• Cultural activities.

Under certain conditions, student awardees may also be entitled to receive assistance to meet the costs of housing outside student residences, upon presentation of proof of payment of the first month’s rent, as well as a copy of the rental contract. Said proof must be presented no later than 3 months following signature of the lease.

Doctoral component

The Eiffel scholarship includes a monthly allowance of €1,400 until 31 December 2020 and €1,700 as of 1 January 2021. In addition, it provides the following direct benefits:

• International air travel. Round-trip international air travel between the awardee’s home country and France. Just one round-trip ticket will be reimbursed, even for doctoral candidates who specified a split scholarship period in their application.
• Train travel within France. Campus France will provide a train ticket to the awardee’s first study location and a second ticket from the last study location to the airport from which the awardee will return to his or her home country.
• Local transportation. Reimbursement of up to €50 of the cost of travel via taxi or public transportation from the airport or train station to the first study location.
• Health insurance. For awardees from outside the European Economic Area, Campus France will provide health insurance coverage until the effective date of the awardee’s enrollment in the French Social Security system.
• Supplemental health insurance (“mutuelle”). Within 2 months of arriving in France, student awardees are required to subscribe to a supplemental health insurance plan, the cost of which is reimbursed upon presentation of proof of enrollment up to a maximum amount set each year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The maximum is unrelated to the length of enrollment. Campus France may suspend payment of living expenses and related services if the student awardee does not provide proof of enrollment in a supplemental insurance plan within 2 months of his or her arrival in France.

• Cultural activities.

Under certain conditions, student awardees may also be entitled to receive assistance to meet the costs of housing outside student residences, upon presentation of proof of payment of the first month’s rent, as well as a copy of the rental contract. Said proof must be presented no later than 3 months following signature of the lease.

Both components

• To receive the first installment of their scholarship, students must have begun their academic program at the host institution in France.
• Any suspension of the scholarship payments entails a suspension of all benefits. Tuition charges are not covered by the Eiffel Program.
• The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects participating educational institutions, whose international visibility is enhanced by the Eiffel program, to provide awardees with the best possible financial support.
• As recipients of French government scholarships, awardees admitted to French universities and other public institutions are exempt from tuition charges.
• Awardees will be covered by Campus France’s health insurance pending their registration with the French Social Security system, which should be done promptly. Awardees should use the following website to register: https://etudiant- etranger.ameli.fr/#/. The website is available in French and English.
• European awardees holding a European health insurance card need not take any further steps. They have access to healthcare in France, and their medical expenses are partially reimbursed just as if they were in their home country.
• Awardees must claim their return-trip benefit within 12 months of the end of their scholarship. Campus France will purchase the ticket for them, or they may purchase the ticket and be reimbursed by Campus France on the basis of the average cost of airfare between France and the region in which they live.