Become an Excellence-Major scholarship holder

Mobility grants to promote French higher education

In a context of student mobility and strong competition between the higher education systems of many countries, the network of French high schools around the world is an asset for the promotion of French universities and grandes écoles.

The Excellence-Major scholarship scheme supports approximately  800 students of foreign nationality for five years of study in France (in reference to the time required to obtain a Master 2 degree or equivalent). Each year , about 200 new scholarship holders  join this program after their final year in a French teaching high school abroad (EFE) . All of them are therefore former students of a French high school in the world .

Encourage student excellence

The awarding of a scholarship is based on the selection of the  best non-French students enrolled in the final year in the network of French high schools around the world .

Terminale students wishing to apply must be pre-selected by the headmaster of the French school abroad. The file, entered online by the student on a dedicated application, will be evaluated by the cooperation and cultural action department of the French Embassy in the country concerned. It will then be examined by the AEFE, which will submit it to a commission made up of higher education specialists and representatives of sectors of excellence (preparatory classes for the Grandes Ecoles – Grandes Ecoles – Universities) as well as representatives of the AEFE. and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Quality of school results , coherent orientation project , involvement in the life of the establishment or in extra-curricular activities and finally motivation for demanding higher education in France constitute the axes of classification of candidates .

The final decision to award a scholarship to candidates selected by the committee is conditional on obtaining the  baccalaureate  with  honors “very good” and confirmation of registration in the sector announced in the application.

Financially support and accompany students in their careers

The Excellence-Major scholarship holder benefits from the status of  scholarship holder from the French government,  which facilitates the administrative procedures (visa, residence permit, etc.) and the allocation of accommodation in a university residence.

Three levels of scholarship are allocated according to family situations:
– the back-to-school scholarship (annual lump sum allowance of €500 and reimbursement of complementary health insurance),
– the Excellence-Major scholarship at rate 1 (monthly allowance of €222 per month and reimbursement complementary health insurance),
– the Excellence-Major scholarship rate 2 (monthly allowance of €685 per month and reimbursement of complementary health insurance).

Excellence-Major scholarship holders at rate 1 or 2 can also claim defined additional services (contribution to tuition fees and payment of outward and return travel costs).

The Excellence-Major scholarship selection committee is organized by the AEFE each year, in May.

Once the Excellence-Major scholarships have been awarded, their administrative and financial management is entrusted by the AEFE to Campus France  , to whom the scholarship holders can turn for all practical questions (administrative procedures in France, accommodation, payment of the allowance).

Guidance and higher education counselors and managers of the Excellence-Major program at the AEFE  also remain available to support each scholarship holder throughout their studies in France. The AEFE has implemented a  sponsorship system and organizes welcome meetings to facilitate the integration of new scholarship holders. An exit ceremony in honor of the “5th years”, who leave the device, is also organized in a high place of the Republic.