study in Toulouse
Europe's aerospace capital — a warm, brick-red southern city with outstanding engineering schools and the lowest costs of the three.
Toulouse is a specialist's city. It is the centre of European aerospace — aircraft manufacturing, space systems and the supply chain around them — and its engineering schools are tightly coupled to that industry. For aeronautical, mechanical and systems engineering students, few places in Europe compare.
Beyond the industry it is a pleasant place to be a student: a warm southern climate, a compact centre built in distinctive pink brick, a large student population, and living costs well below Paris or Lyon.
The limitation is breadth. Outside aerospace, engineering and the sciences, the graduate market is thinner, and English is less widely used in daily life than in the larger cities.
A university system plus several specialist engineering grandes écoles tied to the aerospace sector.
Université de Toulouse
The umbrella institution coordinating the region's universities and schools; sciences, health, law and humanities.ISAE-SUPAERO
Europe's leading aerospace engineering grande école; aeronautics, space systems and propulsion.INSA Toulouse
Public engineering grande école; civil, mechanical, electrical and biochemical engineering.Université Toulouse Capitole
Law, economics, management and political science; a strong economics research tradition.Toulouse is the cheapest of the three. Rent, food and transport all run below Lyon and far below Paris, in a city with a specialised but genuinely world-class industrial base.
Against the other cities we cover in France, Toulouse is one of the cheaper. That is our reading of this country’s own spread, not a published index.
Tuition at a French public university for non-EU students is around €2,850 a year for a licence and €3,879 for a master's.
The practical texture of the place — what a week actually looks like.
Climate
The warmest here — hot summers, mild winters, and close to both the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean.
Getting around
Metro, trams and buses with student rates, in a compact and cyclable city.
Housing
The most affordable and available of the three. CROUS residences and private rooms are both easier to secure; Visale still applies.
Working
Up to 964 hours a year on a student residence permit. French is normally needed.
Language
Less English in daily life than Paris. The engineering schools run some English-taught programmes; the city itself runs in French.
Aerospace
The concentration of aircraft and space employers is the reason to be here — internships and graduate roles are local and actively recruited.
Before enrolling anywhere in France you must pay the CVEC — around €100–115 a year — and present the certificate at registration. No institution can enrol you without it.
It is a small amount but a hard gate: pay it on the official government portal, keep the attestation, and be aware that it is charged every academic year. Alongside it, check whether your university applies the differentiated non-EU tuition rate or exempts international students — the exemption is common and worth far more than the CVEC costs.
Toulouse is one of 3 cities we cover in France. Tap any pin to compare — the city you pick moves your total cost more than almost any other choice you make.