France Made University Meals Cost $1 For Every Student
France has made every university canteen in the country a place where any student can sit down to a three-course meal, including a starter, main course, and dessert, for just one euro, roughly $1.17, regardless of their income or financial aid status. The change took effect at university restaurants run by Crous, the national student welfare network, and represents a major expansion of a program that had previously been available only to low-income students and those receiving government assistance. The usual price for a canteen meal was 3.30 euros, meaning the new rate cuts the cost by nearly 70 percent for students who did not previously qualify for the discount. The urgency behind the decision is not hard to understand: a survey conducted earlier this year by a French student union found that 48 percent of university students had gone without food for financial reasons, and 23 percent had done so multiple times a month.
One 18-year-old student in Paris said the change would cut his monthly canteen spending from around 60 euros to just 20, freeing up money he had previously had no choice but to put toward food. Around 667,000 students already benefited from the one-euro rate before the expansion, and the government is now preparing for significantly higher demand when the new academic year begins, with the Higher Education Minister pledging 120 million euros to support the program's broader rollout. The minister described the expansion as a small internal revolution and said the government would monitor it carefully to ensure it does not strain canteen staff or reduce the quality of the food being served. For the millions of students who have quietly managed tight budgets in one of Europe's most expensive countries to live in, the message from France's government is a simple and direct one: no student should have to choose between eating and everything else that college is supposed to be.
