La mobilité étudiante en France : une opération gagnant-gagnant

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The mobility of international students in France is a “win-win operation” according to Béatrice Khaïat, General Managing Director of Campus France, who on 14 February this year was invited to the Rencontres d’Occitanie forum organised by the La Dépêche group to in order present, among others, the new national strategy to attract students, Bienvenue en France (Choose France).

With a focus on the theme “student mobility: an asset for our region”, this conference-debate took place at the head office of the newspaper La Dépêche du Midi in Toulouse. Marie-France Marchand-Baylet, vice-president of the media group, in the presence of Philippe Raimbault, president of the Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, opened the meeting, which brought together close to a hundred policy-makers in the university and business spheres of the Occitanie region.

The conference-debate was a unique opportunity to take stock, at regional level, of international mobility and to present what France has done to attract foreign students. It was also an opportunity for Béatrice Khaïat to look in detail at the new strategy to attract students, Bienvenue en France (Choose France), unveiled by the French Prime Minister last November.

Reminding that the government’s plan is to attract 500,000 young foreigners by 2027, the General Managing Director of Campus France first spoke of the forces working towards this goal: the Campus France teams in France, the 365 institutions that make up the Forum Campus France and the 265 branches located in 126 countries—a close network of the French diplomatic community and international students who wish to come study in France.

Ensure a more suitable reception in France and simplify visa procedures, develop accommodation offers together with the public and private sectors, and increase the number of courses taught in English were just some of the points discussed, with a focus on the new institution certification policy that Béatrice Khaïat explained to the presidents and directors of several Toulouse-based institutions particularly interested by this aspect of the strategy.

Organised by the La Dépêche du Midi media group, the Rencontres d’Occitanie are a cycle of conferences-debates launched in 2017. Every month, prominent figures stimulate discussions among local policy-makers on key matters for the region (research, education, culture, innovation, export, environment, tourism, aeronautics, etc.).