Students must pay €2,354.35 for their return to the University of Avignon
Studying is still a little more expensive this year. This is the direct consequence of inflation, the re-entry fees are increasing this year in France, and Avignon students are no exception. The return will cost them 2.8% more expensive in 2022 than in 2021, according to the Inter’asso Avignon Federation. She just calculated the cost of going back to university in Avignonand the total amounts to 2,354.35 euros to be disbursed in the month of September alone. This figure includes the costs of daily living, which will be repeated every month during the year, such as rent, food, transport or clothing. Added to this are the specific costs at the start of the school year: agency fees for the apartment, housing insurance or registration fees.
In details, increase everything except for the cost of the telephone and internet subscription, which fell slightly. “Inflation directly affects studentsalert Paola Capelleman, the president of the Inter’asso federation of Avignon. Some politicians are not necessarily aware or do not care about student precariousness, but we, our wallet does not necessarily increase. The stock market based on social criteria has been revalued by 4% while inflation is at 6.1%, we are not getting out of it. In addition, this cost of the start of the school year concerns non-scholarship students who themselves have no revaluation of their income at all. So it’s very difficult to get out of it.”
To Avignon, housing weighs heavily on student budgets. Already because the rents are not framed, unlike larger cities. “We end up with studios at more than 450 euros for a 20 m2 in Avignon, it’s absurd”, comments Paola Capelleman. But also because the Avignon festival forces students to leave their accommodation for the summer. “They must therefore find alternative solutions during the summer, make themselves even more precarious, and pay new entrance fees at the start of the school year, agency fees and a new caution”, she continues. The Inter’asso d’Avignon federation therefore works to help students on a daily basis. It already distributes food baskets twice a week and prepares the opening of a social and solidarity grocery store.