Student Life: A Relative View

This is my third week of school and today is the second student protest march that I have seen. I live on a pretty busy street and the last time the students stopped and sat in the street for about five minutes, while the cars waited at the green light. The protests have always been accompanied by police cars and police officers on motorbikes.

Student Life in France

Tuition
Coming from Canada, life for students in France is quite nice. The average annual tuition for a French citizen attending a public university is about 200€. I've been told that a lot of people will choose school because it's so cheap and then drop out after deciding it's not for them, without the feeling that they've just blown a whole wad of cash on nothing.

Eating
French university campuses don't have fast-food mini-malls, but most have a university restaurant (or Resto U). For 2,75€ you can get a "three-course" meal: appetizer or salad, main dish and a dessert. The food isn't the greatest but it's about the same as the average price of a ham and butter baguettewich.

Other Perks
Aside from the government rent subsidy, many people are aware that travelling in Europe is especially great for those under twenty-five years old (or over 60) qualifying for many discounts like half-priced train and bus tickets. However, there are many other things available. For example, banks usually have student promotions such as no-fee bank accounts, there is always a student price for movies, and hairdressers also offer 20% discounts on haircuts.


This past summer, while I was preparing for my trip, I met a young Lyonnaise who warned that I will be shocked when I arrive because French universities are nothing like in North America (facility-wise), because school is free for them so they have very bad facilities. Now that I'm here I have noticed that, yes, the campus is probably the size of a large high school and professors do not have office hours - having no office on campus. The facilities are about one fifth (a random pointless fraction) of what they are at UBC yet...

Many French students are supported by their parents while they are studying (others find work that fits into their schedules), yet I don't think the purchasing power of your average French student is any more limited than that of your average Canadian student who didn't "plan ahead", or without parents who can afford to pay for everything. In the end, I envy the French student who won't wake up some nights, covered in sweat, realising that she will still be indebted for thousands years after graduation.