IT Universities in France for African Students
A computing degree at a French public university costs €178–2,902 per year at bachelor's level and €255–3,950 per year at master's, depending on whether your university waives the non-EU rate. Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne, PSL and Grenoble Alpes are the main IT addresses. English-taught computing is almost entirely a master's option; the bachelor's years are taught in French.
Why study IT in France?
France teaches computing inside large public universities — Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne, Grenoble Alpes, Lille, Strasbourg — and inside a separate tier of grandes écoles. One decision sets most of your budget. Non-EU students officially owe the differentiated rate of €178–2,902 per year for a licence and €255–3,950 per year for a master’s, but many universities exonerate part or all of their non-EU intake down to the domestic rate. Which of those two figures you pay is decided by your university, not by a national price list.
Scale is the second argument. 110,607 students from Sub-Saharan Africa studied in France in 2024/25, within 443,500 international students in total. The spread is uneven: 42,015 from Morocco against 1,378 from Nigeria, 547 from Ghana and 246 from Kenya.
Language is the trade-off. English-taught computing sits at master’s level; the licence in informatique is taught in French, and since 1 January 2026 a first multi-year residence permit also requires A2 French and a civic exam passed at 80%. Our guide to studying in France covers the wider picture.
Top IT and computer-science universities in France
Université Paris-Saclay ranks #76 (QS 2027) and is the strongest French address for computer science, data science and engineering. It exonerates non-EU students in full, so fees are €178 per year and €255 per year. Sixty master’s are taught in English, none of the bachelor’s.
Sorbonne University ranks #73 (QS 2027) and runs computer science and data science inside its Paris science faculty. Fees are €178–2,895 per year and €255–3,941 per year, the lower figure reserved for the minority of non-EU applicants granted an exemption. Ten master’s are English-taught.
Université PSL ranks #34 (QS 2027) and groups MINES Paris and Dauphine. It has two English-taught bachelor’s, including a BSc in artificial intelligence, and twenty English master’s. Fees vary by school: €178–20,000 per year and €255–19,500 per year.
Université Grenoble Alpes ranks #387 (QS 2027) and is built around computer science, data science and engineering. Fees are €2,902 per year and €3,950 per year, and Grenoble is the cheapest city here at €600–1,000 per month.
University of Strasbourg ranks #456 (QS 2027) and lists 98 English-taught master’s, the largest English portfolio on this page, across computer science, data science and physics. Fees are €178–2,902 per year and €255–3,950 per year.
University of Lille ranks #686 (QS 2027) with 40 English-taught master’s in engineering, computer science and data science. First-time non-EU master’s entrants get an automatic partial waiver and pay €254 per year; at licence level the €178–2,902 per year range depends on a waiver you must request by 31 October.
Aix-Marseille Université ranks #443 (QS 2027) and is the largest on this list with 80,000 students, covering engineering and computer science. Fees are €2,902 per year and €3,950 per year.
University of Bordeaux ranks #485 (QS 2027), teaches computer science and data science, and offers 25 English master’s at €3,950 per year. Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, #613 (QS 2027), adds computer science with 60 English master’s at the same rate. The full set is in French universities.
What an IT degree in France really costs
Tuition is rarely the biggest line. On top of fees you pay the CVEC contribution of €105 per year at enrolment. State health cover is free — registration with the PUMA scheme is automatic for non-EU students under 28 and reimburses 60% of medical costs, with an optional top-up mutuelle priced by the market.
Living costs decide the budget. Campus France puts them at €600–800 per month nationally, but Paris runs at €1,235–1,700 per month with rent alone at €400–900 per month, against €650–1,300 per month in Lille. Add the visa fee of €50–99 and the OFII stay tax of €100 paid on arrival. Budget for three years of living costs, not three years of fees. Private institutions are a different market at €14,900–23,900 per year and €24,000–30,450 per year. See France study costs.
Can you study IT in France in English?
At master’s level, widely. Strasbourg lists 98 English-taught master’s, Paris-Saclay 60, Lyon 1 60, Lille 40, Bordeaux 25, PSL 20 and Sorbonne 10, and computing, data science and AI are among the best-served subjects because the research groups already work in English.
At bachelor’s level, almost not at all. Sorbonne, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Paris-Saclay list no English-taught bachelor’s; PSL lists two, and its English-taught BSc in artificial intelligence sits at the top of the €178–20,000 per year range rather than the bottom. An English-taught computing bachelor’s in France means paying private-school fees at a public university. The visa itself sets no language condition — Not applicable: the visa rules set no language condition — universities decide (France-Visas' and Campus France's own VLS-TS étudiant pages list no French or English test/certificate among required documents or eligibility criteria).
How Africans apply: recognition and admission
The route depends on your passport. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco must use the Études en France (Campus France) procedure before applying for a visa; Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are not on that list and apply directly to institutions. The platform is pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/etudesenfrance.
Dates are fixed and early. For 2027/28 entry the DAP procedure for a first-year licence opens on 1 October 2026 and closes on 15 December 2026 at 18:00 French time. The HDAP procedure, used for entry into licence 2 or 3 and for master’s, closes on 8 January 2027 at 23:59, with institutional decisions by 30 April 2027 and your acceptance due by 31 May 2027. There is one intake — Autumn (September/October) — so a missed deadline costs a year.
Recognition sits with Centre ENIC-NARIC France, and there is no German-style pre-screening certificate to obtain. Document legalisation splits by origin: an apostille is enough for South Africa and Morocco, while Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe need full consular legalisation. Entrance-test requirements for computing are set programme by programme and are not published nationally. The permit side is in the France student visa guide.
Do you need IELTS for IT in France?
There is no national English floor in French law. English-taught programmes cluster around IELTS 6.5 at bachelor’s level and 6.5 at master’s, but individual thresholds vary: Grenoble Alpes accepts IELTS 6 or TOEFL 78, Paris-Saclay and Bordeaux IELTS 6, and Lille IELTS 6.5.
Aix-Marseille sets a higher bar at IELTS 7 or TOEFL 95 for master’s entry, so check the programme page rather than the university page.
No test appears in the visa checklist at all — any language requirement you meet comes from the university. French-taught programmes ask for French instead, at a level each institution sets. The routes that work without a test are set out in studying in France without IELTS.
Working while you study — and after
Work rights come with the permit: no separate work permit is needed, and the cap is 964 hours/year (60% of the 1,607-hour annual legal working time) — an annual cap, not split into term-time/holiday allowances. Your employer must file a déclaration nominative with the prefecture at least two business days before you start, and exceeding the cap risks non-renewal of your permit. The minimum wage is €12.31 per hour, so a student job covers part of the rent.
After graduation the APS job-seeker permit gives 12 months, at a cost of €150, and is not renewable. A standard licence does not qualify — the diploma must be at least master’s-equivalent, which includes a licence professionnelle.
Scholarships for IT students
Two national routes matter. The Eiffel programme is open to applicants from Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda and Zambia, and restricted for Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Morocco. Erasmus Mundus joint master’s are open to all nine of our origin countries and suit computing applicants, since many consortia run data science and AI tracks.
Neither is a mass scheme, and both fund small numbers against applicants from every field. Because public tuition can be as low as €255–3,950 per year at the exonerated end, a French scholarship is really a living-cost scholarship — which is where the money goes. Start with France scholarships and the Eiffel scholarship guide.
What works in your favour
- Four ranked addresses for computing: #34 (QS 2027), #73 (QS 2027), #76 (QS 2027) and #387 (QS 2027).
- The English bars for master’s entry are moderate: IELTS 6 or TOEFL 78 at Grenoble Alpes, IELTS 6 at Bordeaux.
- Where the non-EU rate is waived, Paris-Saclay charges €178 per year and €255 per year, while Grenoble living costs run €600–1,000 per month.
- Paid work needs no separate permit, up to 964 hours/year (60% of the 1,607-hour annual legal working time) — an annual cap, not split into term-time/holiday allowances at €12.31 per hour.
- A master’s graduate may stay 12 months to look for work, for €150.
The honest downsides
- The fee waiver is narrowing. A decree in force since 21 May 2026 replaced blanket institutional exemptions with individual financial-hardship cases, so the €178–2,902 per year range is more likely to resolve upward for 2027/28.
- The money must be visible before you leave. The reference figure rose to €877.50 per month on 1 August 2026, from €615, and insufficient proof of resources is the first-listed refusal reason.
- French is unavoidable at bachelor’s level, and from 1 January 2026 an A2 French level plus a civic exam applies to a first multi-year permit.
- Housing aid is tightening. From 1 July 2026 the government plans to restrict APL housing assistance to means-tested CROUS scholarship holders, though this still needs budget approval.
- One intake and early deadlines, with the dossier judged partly on how coherent your projet d’études reads. See proof of funds.
Our core guidance is free, funded by commission from the universities we work with. We check whether your qualification is likely to be accepted, shortlist computing programmes that admit non-EU applicants and exonerate fees, and vet every document — legalisation, funds evidence, your projet d'études — before it goes into Études en France. If you want the file handled end to end, our optional paid Premium Placement does that. We never sell admission or visa outcomes.
Frequently asked questions
At a public university, tuition is €178–2,902 per year for a bachelor's and €255–3,950 per year for a master's, depending on whether your university waives the non-EU rate. Add the CVEC of €105 per year and living costs of €600–800 per month, which are the larger number.
Université Paris-Saclay at #76 (QS 2027) and Sorbonne University at #73 (QS 2027) lead for computing and data science, with Université PSL at #34 (QS 2027) overall. Grenoble Alpes, Strasbourg, Lille, Bordeaux, Lyon 1 and Aix-Marseille all run computer science with English-taught master's tracks.
At master's level, yes: Strasbourg lists 98 English-taught master's, Paris-Saclay and Lyon 1 60 each, Lille 40 and Bordeaux 25. At bachelor's level it is rare and expensive. Sorbonne, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Paris-Saclay have none in English; PSL has two, priced near the top of its range.
Recognition runs through Centre ENIC-NARIC France and the university itself, and there is no separate pre-screening certificate. Documents from South Africa and Morocco need an apostille; those from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe need full consular legalisation, which takes weeks. Start the paperwork before the platform opens on 1 October 2026.
There is no national entrance test. Selection for computing is done on your school record, your marks in mathematics and your projet d'études, and any programme-level test is set by the institution rather than published centrally. Licence 1 applications go through the DAP procedure, which closes on 15 December 2026 for 2027/28 entry.
No. Since 2019 non-EU students officially owe differentiated fees of up to €255–3,950 per year, and the widely repeated claim that French public universities are free describes the exonerated rate only. Some universities, including Paris-Saclay, do exonerate fully, but that is an institutional choice, not a national rule.
Yes, up to 964 hours/year (60% of the 1,607-hour annual legal working time) — an annual cap, not split into term-time/holiday allowances, with no separate work permit. The cap is annual, so holidays are not treated differently. Your employer files a declaration with the prefecture two business days before you start, and pay begins at €12.31 per hour.
The proof-of-resources reference figure rose to €877.50 per month on 1 August 2026, up from €615, and the OFII stay tax doubled to €100 on 1 May 2026. Both apply to the 2027/28 cohort, so build them into your budget now.