University in France
Nanterre, Île-de-France, France
University profile
Université Paris Nanterre is a public, multidisciplinary university in the Hauts-de-Seine department, west of Paris. With close to 35,000 students and 41 research units, it is a major teaching and research institution in the Île-de-France region. Its programmes cover the humanities and social sciences, letters and languages, law, economics and management, technology, culture and the arts, information and communication, engineering sciences, and sport and physical activity sciences.
The university is based on three sites: the main campus at Nanterre, Ville-d'Avray (engineering sciences) and Saint-Cloud (book and library professions). The Nanterre campus covers 32 hectares, with 20 research and teaching buildings and 12 hectares of green space. It also hosts La contemporaine (a library, archive and museum of the contemporary world), the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Mondes and the Bernard-Marie Koltès theatre.
Teaching is organised through eight UFR (units of training and research) and institutes: Droit et Science Politique (DSP); Philosophie, Information-Communication, Langage, Littérature, Arts du spectacle (PHILLIA); Sciences Sociales et Administration (SSA); Sciences Économiques, Gestion, Mathématiques, Informatique (SEGMI); Sciences et Techniques des Activités Physiques et Sportives (STAPS); Langues et Cultures Étrangères (LCE); Sciences Psychologiques et Sciences de l'Éducation (SPSE); and Systèmes Industriels et Techniques de Communication (SITEC). The Institut de Préparation à l'Administration Générale (IPAG) and the IUT of Ville-d'Avray complete the list of components. The offer comprises 90 pathways in Licence and BUT year 1, more than 180 pathways in Master year 1 and more than 100 apprenticeship pathways, plus a University of Lifelong Learning.
Student life is organised around a Maison de l'Étudiant and more than 110 student associations, a sports centre offering more than 50 activities, and a cultural programme. A Student Health Service, a disability and accessibility service and tutoring and mentoring schemes support students. The university's UNISSON project aims to make it a university of social and solidarity innovation.
More than 6,400 international students study at Nanterre, and the university reports 500 partners in 80 countries and 145 international joint-supervision arrangements for theses. A Welcome Desk helps international students, doctoral candidates and researchers with visas, residence permits, housing, health and daily life. Nanterre is a founding member of the European university alliance EDUC, and a member of Campus Condorcet and the Alliance Paris Lumières. It holds the Campus France label Bienvenue en France, the Qualiopi certification, the FLE quality label and the HRS4R European researcher label.
International students benefit from a partial exemption from differentiated fees and pay only the registration fees applicable to French students, for the whole university cycle in which they are enrolled. For 2026-2027 the fees are approximately 178 euros for the Licence and approximately 254 euros for the Master. Scholarship holders and apprentices are exempt from fees. Doctoral students pay the national doctoral rate.
The CVEC (Contribution Vie Étudiante et de Campus) is a separate national contribution of approximately 105 euros, paid to the CROUS before registration (cvec.etudiant.gouv.fr), with an exemption for some students such as scholarship holders.
The university takes part in the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship programme of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, managed by Campus France. It is reserved for foreign nationals (dual nationals with French nationality are not eligible) at Master, engineer-diploma or doctoral level, with an age limit of 29 for Master and 35 for doctorate. Fields are social sciences and humanities (law and political science, economics and management, history and French language and civilisation) and sciences and technology (biology and health, ecological transition, mathematics and digital, engineering). The university nominates candidates through an internal online form, since only the institution can submit the application.
Each doctoral school awards three-year doctoral contracts, with an optional paid teaching load, after audition of candidates pre-selected by the research units. Contracts are also available through the Alliance Paris Lumières and the Alliance UPN - Paris 8.
The university does not offer a scholarship specifically for international students; the Campus France scholarship directory lists available programmes. The Service d'aide à la vie étudiante and the CROUS social service handle social aid, and the CROUS manages a residence on campus. Details: international student financial aid page and aides et accompagnements.
Bourses Égalité des Chances (Fondation UPN) →
Eiffel Excellence Scholarship (applications via Université Paris Nanterre) →
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View scholarships for Université Paris Nanterre →The route depends on profile. Applicants of European nationality, and non-EU nationals who hold a French baccalauréat, apply through Parcoursup. Those resident in France with a baccalauréat obtained abroad submit a Demande d'Admission Préalable (DAP verte). Applicants living in one of the 74 countries covered by the Études en France procedure submit a DAP blanc on the Études en France platform of Campus France. In countries without the procedure, the DAP blanc file is downloaded and sent to the Service de Coopération et d'Action Culturelle of the French embassy. For the 2026-2027 campaign, DAP applications open on 1 October 2026 and close on 15 December 2026. Applicants in exile may use the Demande d'Admission Adaptée (DAA), open from 16 March to 31 May 2026 for refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary or temporary protection and stateless persons.
Applicants from countries where French is not an official language must provide a certificate or diploma. Licence and BUT applicants need level B2 (DELF B2, DALF C1 or C2, or TCF-DAP or TCF tout public with the compulsory and complementary tests at B2 minimum, with a written expression score of at least 14/20 where required). Master applicants need level C1 (TCF or DALF). The TCF and TEF must have been taken within the two years before the application. Some countries are exempt from the language test.
Applicants to Master year 2, and to year 1 where the Études en France procedure applies, use the Études en France platform. Other applicants (European nationals, non-EU nationals residing in France, and applicants from countries without Études en France) apply to Master year 1 through Mon Master and to Licence 2, Licence 3 and Master year 2 through eCandidat Paris Nanterre. Entry requirements are set programme by programme in the course catalogue (formations.parisnanterre.fr).
A Master 2 degree or equivalent is required. Candidates first find a thesis supervisor and send a CV and short research project, then create an ADUM account and upload a complete file containing the doctoral charter and training agreement signed by the supervisor and the research unit director. The doctoral school director grants an authorisation to register, which is presented to the registration office together with an identity document, passport photograph for external students and the CVEC certificate. A foreign joint supervision (cotutelle) follows the same procedure with a prior contact with the cotutelle office. Some doctoral schools set grade conditions, for example ED 138 requires a Master with mention Bien or a research dissertation grade of at least 16/20.
Registration has three stages: payment or exemption of the CVEC with a certificate, administrative registration (online for most, on site by appointment for DAP admissions or late visa holders), and pedagogical registration. Credentials such as an enrolment certificate are available through the ENT. Foreign diplomas may be recognised through the ENIC-NARIC centre. Contact: [email protected].
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