France has expanded its subsidised university catering scheme, allowing all students enrolled in higher education – not just those on means-tested benefits – to buy a full meal for just €1 from Monday, as campaigners warn that soaring living expenses are pushing young people into financial distress.
More than a discount
On the surface, a one-euro lunch looks like a simple discount. But behind the decision lies a far more troubling reality: student costs are rising fast, yet young people’s budgets are not growing with them.
French students increasingly find that everyday life has become painfully expensive. Housing, transport, groceries and course materials all take a heavy toll on their finances.
Student organisations have long pushed for the cheap-meal programme to be broadened. Previously, support was targeted at a narrow group; now it has become universal.
How the €1 meal works
The cut-price catering is delivered through a network of university restaurants run by Crous (the French regional student services body). To qualify, students need a valid enrolment status and an active profile on the Izly payment platform.
For €1, a student receives a hot main course plus two optional items – for example, a salad, fruit, cheese, dessert or a starter.
In most canteens, the offer is available once a day. Where facilities are open in the evening, it can also be used for dinner. The reduced tariff is available to university students, doctoral candidates, trainees, learners on dual-study programmes and those doing civic service. In practice, the help covers not a tiny minority but the vast majority of young people connected to higher education.
The cost of feeding a generation
The 2026 budget has set aside €50 million to fund the programme. In addition, around 200 extra staff are expected to be hired to manage the larger flow of diners.
The scale of the system is already impressive: over the past year, Crous canteens served more than 44 million meals. A €1 lunch is not merely an attractive price. It is an admission that giving a student a place at university is not enough. They also need somewhere to live, means to travel and decent food to eat.
France is effectively demonstrating that support for education begins not only with lectures and lecture halls, but with basic living conditions. Sometimes, with a plate of hot food.
