Moroccans Maintain Their Lead as the Largest Foreign Student Community in France
Moroccan students represent the largest foreign community in higher education institutions in France, with over 42,000 enrolled students in 2025, according to data released by Campus France. Moroccans constitute 10% of the total international student population in France.
Universities attract 56% of these students, while business schools host 19% and engineering institutes account for 14%. In the past five years, the number of Moroccan students enrolled in business schools has increased by 65%, while engineering schools have seen an 18% rise. Moroccan students particularly excel in scientific fields, especially in engineering and mathematics.
International Students in France
France welcomes a total of 445,000 foreign students, which represents 15% of the entire higher education population. Alongside Morocco, China, Italy, and Senegal are among the leading countries of origin.
The number of Chinese students has decreased by 3% in 2025, following growth in 2023, while Italy and Spain have experienced increases surpassing 35% over the past five years.
Distribution by Fields of Study
International students in universities predominantly focus on basic sciences and health—medicine (43%), followed by arts, languages, and humanities, then economics and management.
For student mobility from Europe, there has been a 5% increase, particularly from Armenia, Romania, Turkey, Spain, and Ukraine.
