Economics serving society

Prepare your arrival at PSE

Studying in France: giving you some context...

Even though the PSE offers its masters programs in English in an international environment; it is part of the French higher education system. Learn to know and understand it better through this short synthesis:


Accommodations

Housing in Paris is not cheap: the city is rather expensive, and PSE does not provide student housing. Nevertheless, there are several organizations that provide student housing assistance. You can also improve your chances of finding housing by contacting your embassy, consulates, and all kinds of social networks or religious circles.
Most importantly, do not wait the last minute to look for an accommodation!

For masters students – long term stays
Searching for housing from outside the country can be difficult. You won’t be able to visit properties and make fully informed decisions. It may also be difficult, from a distance, to persuade a property owner to let you sign a rental contract or convince him that you have someone who will guarantee payment of your rent.

For these reasons, many international students choose to find temporary housing for their first few weeks in France. They use that time to look for a more permanent arrangement.

PSE has a partnership with Maison des Provinces de France. Each year 14 rooms are pre-booked for our APE and PPD students. Priority is given to new PSE students coming from developing countries. Eligible students will be notified via email in July.

For Summer school and Executive education participants – short term stays
Accomodation in Paris in the summer can be particularly expensive. We advise you look for a place to stay as soon as you confirm your spot at PSE.


Visas

As soon as you secure your spot at PSE, we advise to contact the relevant French embassy or consulate of your country to know if
1) you will need a VISA or any documents to present on your arrival in France
and 2) what is the process to get it.
Rules vary according to the length of your stay, and the country you are coming from.

Note that we do not have special arrangements with the OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration); you will need to do all the steps to get the VISA on your own. However, if there is any information that you do not understand or if you need specific papers from us, do not hesitate to contact us. Also, there is an OFII office at the CIUP (5min walk from our campus) with administrative staff that speaks fluent English. They will be able to help you in all the administrative process and answer your questions.

  • Where can you get the application forms for visa and further information? You can go directly see the France Diplomatie website. From there you will be able to download VISA application forms or get further information on the requirements regarding your home country.

For masters students – long term stays
You will need to get a VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour). It is valid for one year. At the end of your first year (if you enter in M1) you will need to renew it. We will be able to issue the necessary documents for this renewal (certificate of enrollment, grade transcript…)

  • You will find all the usefull information here regarding the VLS-TS visa

For Summer school and Executive education participants – short term stays
To attend the summer school or an executive education program, you may not need to apply for a VISA as they may be automatically granted upon arrival in France. The stamp on your passport will be the 1st day of your 90 days visa. This short stay visa is also called Schengen visa.

  • To see if you need to do any visa application before coming to France, you can check this dedicated page on the France-Visas website.

Health Insurance

From March 08th, 2018 the law about the social security for students has changed. Starting with the 2018 – 2019 school year the new students will depend on the general social security system and not anymore on the student social security system.

Therefore, if you register for the first time in an establishment of higher education (French students that are already affiliated to a general security system): you do not change the health insurance regime for the reimbursement of your health care expenses. You keep the same status of independent beneficiary of your actual social security system.

Exceptional situations:
>> International students coming from the European Union: if you have a European health security card valid (Carte Européene d’Assurance Maladie CEAM) you do not need to be affiliated to the French health security. The health security of your home country will reimburse your health care expenses.
>> Other international students (not coming from the European Union) who enroll for the first time in an establishment of higher education in France: you need to apply for the French social security by registering on the website etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr.


Funding

Financial aid from different institutions is available for international students. However, there are a few key points to bear in mind if you wish to obtain a grant to study in France.

The admission into the French higher education institution and the application for a scholarship are two independent processes managed by distinct organizations, even if the academic institution is involved in the grant allocation process, as it is often the case.
At PSE there is no integrated “admission through scholarship” system.
You must be aware that you should start looking for funding and investigate the possible sources as early as in October, one year before you start your studies.
The application procedures usually open in December, with deadlines as early as in January. You will encounter grants where candidates apply for funding directly and individually (e. g., government scholarships) as well as grants where applications are sent through the Higher Education institution the candidate wishes to be part of. In such a case, it is the institution accepting the candidate for its training that presents his/her application file for the grant.
We invite all the future PSE students to explore the different funding possibilities in more detail available on the website of Campus France through the grant search engine.

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The SI master offers a limited number of scholarships to students based on the quality of the application file and on their financial resources. The amount of the does not cover the total fees of the programme. Students are thus invited to apply to other means of funding at the same time.
Note that the last 6 months of the SIA program are dedicated to an internship. The average salary of an SIA student under an internship contract in France is around 1100euros per month.

The PPD master offer four scholarships to M1 students who are (exclusively) citizens of a middle or low-income country (see the list of eligible countries), subject to their financial ressources - the M1 grant could be extended to M2 if the 1st year is validated in 1 year. If you are eligible, you can apply to this scholarship while applying to the PPD program. More information in the dedicated brochure.
The amount of the scholarship is 7,500 euros, 5,000 euros received in M1 and 2,500 euros received in M2, the latter conditional on full completion of the M1 within a year.

PPD candidates: if you are eligible, you can apply to this scholarship while applying to the PPD program. To do so, in the “about your application”, tick “yes” to the “do you wish to apply to the PSE scholarship” and upload the required documents:
1) a personal statement mentioning your family and own resources
2) official documents justifying those resources (pay sheets, tax statements, former scholarship entitlement, etc.)

The APE program. Depending on your nationality, financial aid may be available from different institutions (central banks, embassies, foundations, etc.). You can dowload the dedicated brochure “Funding opportunities for Foreign Students" (pdf).
We invite you to explore the different possibilities available on the websites of EHESS (only in French) and Campus France.


Feel Français

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Feel Français is our partner and a hosting service for international students in France.

They proceed to the booking of your apartment and provide range of services, as phone card, bank account, CAF, VISA, VISA validation, health insurance, transport card… Save time, energy, and money by using that platform created for you! Those services are offered by your school.

Save time: Open a bank account in advance and receive your IBAN two weeks before arrival by email. Order your Sim card on the platform so it will be ready to pick at the bank the day of your arrival.
Open an electricity line in 5 minutes on the platform and don’t wait hours for EDF to pick up the phone and spend 30 minutes to answer their questions.

Save money: Get help to apply at the CAF on your first day arrival in order to get the governmental aid and receive 206€/month.Learn about the full process and documents required to get your French VISA.
If you are less than 26 years old, order your student metro card called Imagine R online, 10 days before your arrival to receive it on your mailbox for your arrival and avoiding paying tickets or a basic metro card for 75€/month.

Save energy: Get help to validate online your VISA once in France, which is mandatory, otherwise if you leave France you can’t come back. Get help to obtain your “Titre de séjour” at the end of your VISA expiration.