All French University Students Now Eligible for €1 Meals at CROUS Restaurants

All students have benefited from a €1 meal price at every university restaurant managed by CROUS since May 4 2026. The measure, which delighted many students, has raised operational questions among staff who anticipate heavier demand in the coming academic year. A €1 meal was served at the CROUS restaurant in Villetaneuse, Seine-Saint-Denis, on May 5 2026.

Just before noon on Tuesday May 5 2026, students crowded into the CROUS restaurant on the Sorbonne-Paris Nord University campus in Villetaneuse, in the northern suburbs of Paris. Regulars mixed with others who were less familiar with the place. Emilie, a 20-year-old third-year undergraduate student studying applied mathematics at Sorbonne-Paris Nord University, was among those new to the subsidized line.

30 per meal at CROUS restaurants, while scholarship recipients previously paid €1 per meal. "I brought my own food every day for lunch because I could make meals for less than €3," she explained. The €1 flat rate for all students originated from an agreement between the Parti Socialiste and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to pass the 2026 budget.

Philippe Baptiste is the Minister of Higher Education. Philippe Baptiste initially opposed expanding the €1 meal program before eventually backtracking. The €1 meal price was launched at the start of the 2020 academic year in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

It was initially reserved for students receiving need-based scholarships and those officially recognized as being in financial hardship. Access to the €1 meal price was temporarily extended to all students between January and August 2021. Staff are worried about a surge in numbers come September and are calling for additional resources to match the potential demand.

Le Monde reported that the new price, now posted on every wall of the university restaurant, marks a permanent shift from the program's original targeted design.