France Student Education News

There are more international students in France than ever

An all-time high of 443,500 international students were in higher education in France during the 2024/25 academic year. This is up by 3 per cent from the previous year, and 17 per cent from 2019/20.

The countries from which the largest number of students arrived are Morocco (42,015) and Algeria (34,758). Seven of the top 10 have a significant French-speaking population, with third-place China the leading exception (26,327 students).

Rankings name new top university for MBAs

The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has been rated as as the world's best university for MBAs by the QS Global MBA Rankings 2026. It returns to the top for the first time since 2020, replacing the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which led for the last five years. Stanford is now in fourth place, and one of six American institutions in the top 10.

Here is the top 10 in full:

Explore further with our guide to the best universities for an MBA.

Hundreds of world leaders have studied abroad

More than 200 current national leaders were once international students, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute's 2024 Soft-Power Index. Most studied in the top two destinations on the list: the USA (70, including Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus) and the UK (58, including Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya). Third on the list is France, where 28 leaders studied abroad.

Rankings name the top universities for MBAs

Stanford has been rated as the world's best university for MBAs by the QS Global MBA Rankings 2025, taking top position for the sixth year in a row. It is followed by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Harvard in a top 10 in which half of institutions are American. The other half are based in the UK, Spain and France. These include London Business School (5th), HEC Paris (6th) and Madrid's IE Business School (9th).

France has more international students than ever before

A record total of 430,466 international students took part in higher education in France during the 2023/24 academic year. This is an increase of 4.5 per cent from the previous year, and 17 per cent from 2018/19. The countries from which the largest number of students arrived are Morocco (43,354) and Algeria (34,269). Seven of the top 10 countries are ones with a significant French-speaking population, with third-place China the leading exception (27,123 students). The fastest growth in student numbers came from Ukraine (14 per cent more than last year) and India (12 per cent).

Almost 150 Indian students awarded an Erasmus Mundus scholarship

A total of 146 students from India have received an Erasmus Mundus scholarship this year, providing them with a fully funded opportunity to study a two-year master's degree in Europe. The group are among 2,603 students from 137 countries to be given the European Union award in 2024, of whom all will study at two or more of the continent's top universities. The 19 initial destinations of Indian scholars are diverse, and include the UK, Portugal and France.