Which scholarships and financial aid can help fund business school?

Which scholarships are available for business school?

In France, the CROUS need-based scholarship does not depend on the status of the institution you choose: it is paid according to the household's income and circumstances, whether you study at a public university or at a private school such as Excelia Business School. This is one of the most widespread misconceptions among families who hesitate to apply to business school, when no text reserves this scheme for the public sector.

For the 2026/2027 academic year, the amount varies across eight levels, from level 0 bis to level 7, with a range from €1,454 to €6,335 a year, paid over ten months. The amount depends on the national scale, recalculated every September according to the income and the number of dependent children of the family. Another concrete advantage for scholarship holders: they are exempt from the Student and Campus Life Contribution (CVEC), which is otherwise €105 for 2026/2027 and which every student must pay to enrol in higher education.

How can work-study help fund your studies?

Beyond scholarships, work-study changes the picture: under an apprenticeship or professionalisation contract, it covers a large share of tuition fees, while also ensuring you are paid during your studies. This is a difference in kind from a scholarship, which lightens the bill without ever covering it entirely, whereas work-study turns funding into a source of income.

Several Excelia Business School programmes can be taken on a work-study basis, including for students who enter through direct entry, which extends the solution well beyond conventional undergraduate routes. Work-study at Excelia Business School explains, contract by contract, who funds what and how pay changes according to your level of study. This option depends on no means test: it remains open whatever the family's financial profile, which makes it the most solid answer to the idea that no other solution would exist without a scholarship.

What other funding solutions are available?

Funding business school is rarely built on a single source: several options are usually combined, each covering a different part of the budget.

• family savings
• public scholarships and aid
• work-study
• paid internships
• a student loan, when the other options are not enough, with conditions that vary according to the banks and the guarantees required

According to Diplomeo, more and more schools also adjust their tuition fees according to family income: a practice that is growing in the sector, but which is not applied uniformly from one institution to another. To gauge the share each solution can realistically cover, it is better to start by knowing the amount to be funded: the page on what business school really costs lays these foundations, and the article on a student's day-to-day budget complements it with everyday living expenses.

Every family's situation is different, and no general page can decide for you which combination of solutions suits your case: an appointment with an Excelia Business School adviser lets you take stock of the aid you can draw on according to your profile.