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The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship is awarded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs to international students who want to study in France for any Master’s or Ph.D. program.

Those who are selected for this scholarship are offered financial aid of 1323 USD on a monthly basis. This would result in a yearly amount of 15,873 USD.

Eiffel Scholarship Eligibility

For the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship, students need to meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. The candidate should be an international student. They must submit a passport for proof.
2. Applications submitted through sources other than French education institutions won’t be entertained.
3. Candidates need to opt either for a Ph.D. or a Master’s program. The programs that are eligible for the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship are:

• Law
• Political Science
• Engineering Science
• Economics and management

1. Those applying for the Master’s programs must be 25 years or less at the time of the application process. And at the Ph.D. level, applicants must be at most 30 years old during the application process.

Do read these terms and conditions. They’re one of the most important aspects of the Eiffel Scholarship eligibility criteria:

1. Candidates won’t be considered for the scholarship if they have applied for another scholarship offered by the French government.
2. No candidate can apply for the scholarship a second time; it doesn’t matter if the institution and course are different.
3. Candidates who apply for the scholarship must know the basics of the French language.

Suggested Read: 11 Solutions To Improve Your French Speaking

P.S: If a student has received a scholarship at a Master’s level, they are free to re-apply for the scholarship at a Ph.D. level.

Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Application Process

Applications for the scholarship must be made through French Higher Education institutions.

Students must keep these points in mind before applying:

• Candidates need to contact the International Relations department of the university via email, website, or phone to know when the deadlines are.
• Students are required to contact the Campus France office or the French Embassy in their home country.
• The respective French university will help the student complete their application form.
• Finally, the application for the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship will be sent by the university on behalf of the student.

For students applying through Campus France, note:

• Opening call for applications begins in the 3rd week of October, 2024.
• The deadline for the reception of applications is January 10, 2025.
• Publication of results is on the 3rd week of April, 2025.

Generally, applications for this scholarship open in September and close by January. And most of the time, results are declared around March.

Eiffel Excellence Scholarship: Selection Process

Now that we’ve covered the Eiffel Scholarship eligibility criteria, let’s look at the selection process.

The committee that carries out the selection process consists of 4 panels of experts from the departments of engineering sciences, law, political science, and management.

Here are a few pointers about the selection process:

• No panel member can evaluate applications from institutes they are affiliated with or associated with.
• Students will be assessed for the scholarship on the basis of their academic performance as mentioned in their application form.
• Departments and institutes that candidates belong to could be taken into consideration on the basis of their contribution towards promoting the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship.

P.S: Students with outstanding academic performance will be preferred for the scholarship. In fact, more than 70% of scholarships are given to these students. The remaining 30% of scholarships are usually awarded to those who’ve not received any scholarships before.

Students needn’t be disheartened if they don’t get through. They can always count on scholarships offered by GradRight.

Benefits of the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship

Getting this scholarship won’t be a piece of cake. A few years ago, 380 scholarships were awarded to students at Master’s level, and only 70 scholarships were awarded to those at Ph.D. level.

Out of all the lakhs (more than 2,50,000) of foreign students that enter French institutes, only a few of them will end up studying a Master’s or a Ph.D. program. The percentage is as low as 5% or even lower. This means there could be only a 4% chance to receive the scholarship.

Keeping this in mind, the benefits are absolutely worth the effort and competition to make it through. 

In addition to the monthly stipend, the scholarship also covers other expenses like travel reimbursements.

Other benefits include:

1. Free accommodation at the Fresh Government residence / a housing allowance in the event the student wants to stay in private student residences. However, if the student has taken any gaps in their studies, this allowance will be suspended during this period.
2. Trips to France during the weekends to help the student destress
3. A round-trip international ticket, where air travel between the candidate’s home and France will be paid for. The awarded student will have a year from the end of the scholarship to reap the benefits of the return trip.
4. Several sports, leisure, and recreational opportunities
5. Cultural activities
6. French Social Security for those belonging to non-EU countries
7. Health insurance coverage until the awardees have enrolled themselves in the French Social Security system

P.S: The scholarship won’t be covering tuition costs.

Even if students don’t get the scholarship, they can still count on FundRight for the best student loans.

Documents Required to Apply for the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship

Students must ensure they have these documents ready before applying:

• A photocopy of your passport or any other valid ID card
• All your academic transcripts
• Project or research proposal
• CV
• A Statement of Purpose to explain how they’ve contributed to the institute
• Certificates of language proficiency, and scores. (For English and/or French) if required
• Two letters of recommendation from their previous institutes or teachers

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Eiffel Excellence Scholarship: Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the different components of the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship?

Ans: There are two components; Masters and Doctoral. The Master’s component offers funding for a duration of 12-36 months to help students complete their Master’s degree in a French institute for higher studies.

On the other hand, the Doctoral component offers funding for a duration of up to 12 months to help international students do their doctoral research in France.

Q2. Can a student apply for the scholarship from two different institutions?

Ans: No, they will be disqualified if they do.

Q3. What are the objectives of the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship?

Ans:  1. To attract candidates from developing, industrialized countries to French Doctoral and Master’s programs.

           2.To prepare future foreign decision-makers in priority areas of study in both public and private spheres.

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Q4. What are the different fields of study for Doctoral and Master’s programs?

Ans: There are 7 fields of study that contain 2 spheres of Eiffel scholarships:

1. Human and social sciences

• French language, history, and civilization
• Management and economics
• Law and political sciences

     2. Science and techniques

• Ecological transition
• Digital and mathematics
• Biology and health
• Engineering and science

In Conclusion

Although quite competitive, the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship is the most prestigious French scholarship one can get. All students have to do is study hard and ensure they meet the Eiffel Scholarship eligibility requirements before they apply.

The Eiffel Scholarship eligibility requirements would include:

• student’s nationality (only non-French nationals can apply)
• age (25 for the Master’s program, and 30 for the Doctoral program)
• source of application (should be only via French educational institutes)
• academic levels targeted (only Master’s or Doctoral levels)
• scholarship conflicts (students aren’t considered for the scholarship if they’ve already been awarded another French Government scholarship)
• geographic location (students living in France cannot apply)
• language proficiency (for both English and French)
• Master’s and doctoral components (candidates who’ve been rejected in an earlier competition at these levels will not be considered for the scholarship)

Here are two student testimonials that could further encourage you to apply for the scholarship (lifted from the Campus France website):

“The international environment I was exposed to encouraged me to further open my mind and engage myself with different cultures, which in itself enriched my understanding of the world. I could not be more thankful for the opportunity granted to me by the Eiffel Scholarship Programme. “

• Hannah Cocos, from the Philippines

“Studying in Paris has been an exciting and enlightening experience. In short, Paris has offered me all of France and all of the world in a single moment. France, as an international center for excellent education, has offered me the opportunity to meet students, researchers, and professors from all parts of the world: to share and to learn different cultures and to discuss and contribute to trending international discourse.”

• Edmund Efrei, from Ghana

The following testimonial has been sourced from the website of Rennes School of Business –

“I am really grateful and honoured to receive the prestigious Eiffel Excellence Scholarship for my Master’s degree in Data and Business Analytics at Rennes School of Business. This scholarship will help me to manage my expenses in France. It will be of great help to me in these uncertain and challenging times. This scholarship will help shape my future and help me in achieving my goals in the domain of analytics. ”

• Gaurav Kudale, from Mumbai, India