University in France
Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France, France
University profile
The Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO) is a multidisciplinary public university on the Channel and North Sea coast of Hauts-de-France, created in 1991 as one of the French new universities. It brings together higher-education sites in the port cities of Dunkerque, Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer and at Saint-Omer (Longuenesse), inland. Its motto is a university on a human scale, with small classes and close contact between students and teaching staff. Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and London are each within about two hours.
The university offers more than 100 programmes: 13 Licence mentions, 16 professional Licences and 27 Masters, organised in four fields: Human and Social Sciences; Arts, Letters and Languages; Law, Economics and Management; and Science and Technology, Health and Sport (STAPS). Teaching is organised in 12 pedagogical departments. Three component schools sit within the university: the IUT du Littoral Côte d'Opale (9 BUT programmes and 4 professional Licences), the ISCID-CO international business school, and the EILCO engineering school, which is recognised by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles. Most programmes can also be followed through work-study (alternance) from bac+1 to doctorate, and the university apprenticeship centre Dunéo trains more than 1,100 apprentices each year.
Research is carried out in 14 laboratories grouped under the Institut des Sciences de la Mer et du Littoral, the Pôle Mutations Technologiques et Environnementales and the Pôle Humanités et Territoires Intégrés. The sea and coast theme is central to the university's identity, alongside environmental transition, energy, health, artificial intelligence and territorial studies.
The university has about 10,400 students, 540 teaching staff and 500 administrative and technical staff, with around 1,200 international students. Student life is supported by the BULCO libraries (more than 150,000 documents in four libraries), the SUAPS sports service and a university sports association affiliated to the FFSU, a student health service with free and confidential consultations, student associations funded in part through the FSDIE, and the CROUS de Lille residences and restaurants. International students are welcomed through a reception desk, a welcome guide in French and English, a buddy system and French-as-a-foreign-language courses at the Centre de Relations en Langues.
ULCO is a member of the A2U alliance with the Université d'Artois and the Université de Picardie Jules Verne, and takes part in two co-accredited doctoral schools. Its degrees are accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education. It has ranked first in the Hauts-de-France region for success in Licence, and first nationally for Licence STAPS in 2023. Its strategic project is ULCO 2035.
Differentiated registration fees apply to non-EU, non-EEA, non-Swiss international students, other than those from Andorra and Québec, work-study students, and doctoral and university-diploma (DU) students: 2,902 euros for first-cycle (Licence-level) programmes and 3,950 euros for second-cycle (Master-level) programmes. They apply to BUT, DEUST, Licence, professional Licence, Master and the ULCO engineering school. Registration must be completed within the university calendar (9 July to 9 October 2026) and payment can be split. Following a decree of 19 May 2026 on exemptions, only newly arrived international students who have registered and paid can request an exemption, by email to [email protected] between 14 September and 9 October 2026 (subject line 'Demande d'exonération des droits différenciés'), then complete an online file for a commission in November. No full exemption is granted. Students exempted for 2025/26 and those already exempted for 2026/27 before the decree keep their status until the end of their cycle, if they stay at ULCO. Fees for French and EU students are the nationally set registration fees.
All students enrolled in initial higher education must pay the CVEC, which funds social, health, cultural and sports support. Students on social-criteria scholarships, refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and asylum seekers are exempt. At ULCO the CVEC funds student health activities, the FSDIE (association aid and one-off social aid), calls for projects on student life and sport, culture and campus infrastructure. Information: cvec.etudiant.gouv.fr.
ULCO nominates candidates to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs' Eiffel programme for Master-level studies in science and technology (biology and health, ecological transition, mathematics and digital, engineering sciences) and in human and social sciences (history, French language and civilisation, law and political science, economics and management). Only students currently studying abroad can apply, aged 29 or under at the selection committee date; students already registered in France are not eligible. Complete files must reach the programme head by 16 November 2026 at the latest; a ULCO committee selects the nominees before submission to Campus France (deadline 6 January 2027). The required documents include identity document, two-page CV, diplomas and ranking proofs, transcripts for the last three years, a professional project, the signed candidate declaration and the programme syllabus. ULCO gives priority to students from partner universities. Contact: [email protected]. Official page.
Doctoral students may be funded through doctoral contracts (generally three years, with a state-grid salary, topics proposed by research units from April), CIFRE industrial agreements, and ULCO co-supervision (cotutelle) scholarships for international students, with 18 months in each partner institution and annual travel costs covered. International students may also seek Eiffel scholarships, French embassy scholarships and AUF scholarships. Doctoral studies.
ULCO and the CROUS provide social-criteria scholarships (application between 15 January and 15 May before the start of the year at messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr), emergency aid (ASAP and FSDIE) arranged with the university social workers, and mobility scholarships for study or internships abroad from Licence 1 to Master 2 ([email protected]). Local authorities and the Hauts-de-France region also offer aid. Social and financial aid. Erasmus+ mobility is coordinated by the Direction des Relations Internationales.
Bourse Eiffel (volet Master) à l'Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale →
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View scholarships for Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale →Holders or future holders of a French baccalauréat, in France or abroad, apply through Parcoursup. International applicants holding a non-French baccalauréat submit a Demande d'Admission Préalable (DAP) using the university's DAP application procedure.
Applicants who are French or foreign students already studying in France, students from the European Economic Area, or students from outside the EEA living in a country with no Centre pour les Études en France (CEF) and without a diploma giving direct access submit a validation-of-studies file on the ULCO-CANDIDAT application (opened 2 March 2026 for 2026/27). Foreign-diploma holders living in a country with a CEF must apply exclusively through the Études en France / Campus France online procedure at the country's Campus France site; for entry in 2026 the Campus France deadline was 15 December 2025, and applicants should check the exact date with their Campus France office.
The same two routes apply: an application on ULCO-CANDIDAT (opened 2 March 2026) or, for applicants in a CEF country, the Campus France procedure only.
Applicants in France, the EEA, or non-EEA countries without a CEF apply on the national Mon Master platform (17 February to 16 March 2026 for 2026/27), for initial training and work-study alike. Applicants in CEF countries use the Campus France procedure. Applicants in continuing education use ULCO-CANDIDAT. The university sets the selection criteria and the intake capacity of each Master 1.
Job seekers, employees and work-study applicants for DEUST, Licence, professional Licence and Master submit a validation-of-studies file on ULCO-CANDIDAT between 2 March and 30 June and between 17 August and 13 September 2026. Work-study applicants to Master 1 must also apply through Mon Master.
Administrative registration is compulsory every year and must be completed before 9 October 2026 (registration periods 9 to 21 July and 17 August to 9 October 2026). It involves payment of the registration fees and issue of the student card. Applicants coming from a university outside the Nord-Pas-de-Calais area with a direct-access diploma request a transfer from their home university and register through the ULCO online transfer procedure.
All courses are taught in French, and level B2 of the Common European Framework is required by ULCO. International students can enrol in French-as-a-foreign-language courses at the Centre de Relations en Langues (compulsory for Erasmus and exchange students). A summer online course of 90 hours is available for students with at least B1 French.
Candidates must hold a national Master's degree or another diploma conferring the grade of Master, with demonstrated aptitude for research; the head of the institution may admit candidates with equivalent studies on the proposal of the doctoral school council. Doctoral candidates register at ULCO, join a research unit and one of the two doctoral schools (ED 585 STS or ED 586 SHS), and pay registration fees and the CVEC. The doctorate lasts three years full time.
Meals cost 3.30 euros for non-scholarship students and 1 euro for scholarship students in CROUS restaurants.
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