Study abroad at Marseille

Marseille is France's historic second-largest city and the dynamic economic, maritime, and scientific capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, situated along the shimmering Mediterranean coastline, located just 3 hours south of Paris by direct TGV high-speed train. Founded in 600 BC by Phocaean Greeks (making it France's oldest city), celebrated for the iconic Old Port (Vieux-Port), the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, the stunning Calanques National Park (dramatic limestone sea fjords), the MuCEM museum (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations), and booming industries in international logistics, maritime trade (France's largest commercial port), biotechnology, photonics, and green hydrogen technology. Marseille is the main campus home of the largest university in the French-speaking world: Aix-Marseille University (AMU - founded in 1409, premier public research university with over 80,000 students and an annual research budget exceeding €750 million across major Marseille campuses including Saint-Charles, Luminy Science and Technology Park, Timone Health and Medicine, and Saint-Jérôme, ranked in the World Top 150 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities ARWU). Marseille is also the global flagship home of KEDGE Business School (Triple Crown accredited: AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS, ranked among Europe's top 30 business schools with a stunning eco-campus in the Luminy Calanques), École Centrale de Marseille (Centrale Méditerranée - elite French Grande École in Engineering), Polytech Marseille, and the Institut Méditerranéen d'Océanologie. Degrees are taught in French and English with official French State and European ECTS accreditations. International students benefit from heavily subsidized French public university tuition, generous French government housing subsidies (CAF / APL covering 30%–45% of monthly rent), vibrant multicultural Mediterranean life, and France's 1-year post-study job seeker visa (APS / RECE).

Tuition fees in Marseille for international students at public institutions (Aix-Marseille University AMU) are heavily subsidized by the French government: national French public university tuition is approximately €175 per year for undergraduate Bachelor's (Licence) and €250 per year for Master's degrees (or standard differentiated non-EU fees of €2,850/year for Licence and €3,879/year for Master's, with AMU offering extensive partial tuition waivers to international applicants). At elite Grandes Écoles and business schools like KEDGE Business School, international tuition ranges between €11,500 and €15,500 per academic year. Affordable public CROUS student residences (CROUS Aix-Marseille: Résidence Luminy, Galinat, Saint-Jérôme, Gazelles) cost between €220 and €450 per month (reduced to €140–€280/month after the mandatory French CAF / APL housing allowance subsidy), while private 1-bedroom apartments in Vieux-Port, Castellane, and Prado range from €550 to €850 per month. General monthly living expenses range between €650 and €1,100.

International non-EU students require a French Long-Stay Student Visa (VLS-TS - Visa Long Séjour valant Titre de Séjour). The process requires: completing the online Campus France procedure, receiving official university admission, proof of sufficient financial resources (minimum €615 per month or €7,380/year in a personal bank account), and valid accommodation certificate for the first 3 months. Upon arrival in Marseille, students validate their VLS-TS visa online with the OFII to receive official student residence status, qualifying for free French social security healthcare (Assurance Maladie), monthly CAF housing assistance, up to 60% legal part-time employment (964 hours/year), and the 1-year RECE post-study job seeker residence permit.