The University of Strasbourg , established on January 1st 2009, is the biggest French university with 42 000 students. It has also obtained increased means for education and research.

The University of Haute Alsace based in the south of Alsace in Mulhouse and Colmar’s site is also a university where it is good to be studying. The CLOUS of Mulhouse will give you all the information about the student life there.

Alsace enjoys a big international popularity: the universities and engineering schools welcome together almost 10 000 foreign students from more than a hundred different nationalities. They represent 20% of the student population.

The Region Alsace is one of the most dynamic of France: it combines tradition and modernity and is the seat of several international institutions, as for example some of the European Institutions. It is bordered by Germany and Switzerland and so economic and cultural exchanges are very steady.

The universities of Alsace are members of the EUCOR network including the German universities of Karlsruhe and Freiburg as well as the Swiss university of Basel.

This service will give you details on the possibilities of housing in Strasbourg; the CLOUS of Mulhouse will do the same for Colmar and Mulhouse.

In the international relations service, you will also find a user-friendly place where to consult daily newspapers, as well as books on the history and the geography of the Alsace Region; you will access private housing and job ads for free. There is also information on the cultural activities of Strasbourg, the universities and the CROUS organizing year-round parties, guided tours and different activities. (Lien vers le programme détaillé 2008/2009)

Beyond the opening hours of the service and if you are living in a university residence hall, you will be received by students called Etudiants Relais Cité who will help you and give you the information you need in your daily life. They will invite you year round to share with you and the other residents user-friendly moments during the week or week-ends.

• UDEES

UDEES is composed of students of various nationalities and works with foreign students associations of different countries or geographic area. It helps foreign students in their administrative process and organizes events to make their integration in Strasbourg easier.

The Bureau des Boursiers du Gouvernement Français (French government grant beneficiaries) receives you Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 13h30 to 16h and by appointment on mornings.

1, boulevard de la Victoire
BP 50168

The service is in charge of :

• A specific and individualized reception (on appointment beyond the opening to the public hours).
• The processing of your housing demand in a university residence hall of the CROUS.
• The payment of your specific benefits planned with your grant.
• A connection with your institution, professor, the Mutualist Society, also providing help with your administrative process (health insurance, temporary residency permit).
• The pedagogic follow-up of your studies and the report who is given the mandate.
• The connexion with the cultural service to help you discover the cultural program and take part in these activities.
  

The international relations service organizes regular outings, guided tours especially for foreign students to help them discover the region, as well as yearly parties dedicated to the BGF (French government grant beneficiaries). (Link to the last event and the 2008 event ).

The CROUS of Strasbourg dedicates a number of its housing capacities to students received in the framework of international exchange programs.

The first privileged relationship for an ERASMUS student is the one with the international relation service of your higher education institution for all questions including housing.

You will ask for housing at the international relation service of the institution receiving you.

Please note: If the institution can not provide you with housing, you will have to apply for housing like “individual” foreign students via the Dossier Social Etudiant of the CROUS.

You can apply for housing via the Dossier Etudiant International.

Read carefully the conditions of admissibility of the file and meet the deadline when sending back the fulfilled file !

Conditions of admissibility for first applications and renewals :

• To be 28 years old maximum for students in university rooms
• To be 30 years old maximum for students in studios (no age limit for French or foreign government grant beneficiaries managed by the CNOUS and housed in rooms or studios).
• Duration maximum of 3 years for those living in university rooms (beyond, proposition of a studio by the CROUS)
• To have registered in a superior year of study during the last two years of study (2007/2008-200/2009) for the students in studios.
• To sign-up for a minimum stay of 9 months in a room and 12 months in a studio.
  

The housing capacity being limited, we advised you to acquaint with the other housing possibilities (download the Dossier Soleil-sunshine file ).

Even if we advise you strongly to find before your arrival (see Housing section) it is still possible to do it while arrived. The international relations service of the CROUS will give you information on the other way for housing (Download the Dossier Soleil-sunshine file )

Each foreign student coming to France to follow studies for more than 3 months has to ask, as soon as he arrives, for a temporary residency permit with the mention “student” to the Prefecture of his/her place of residence. Attention, this permit has to be renewed every year.
Please note: if you are citizen of a member state of the European Economic Area European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), of Switzerland, Andorra or Monaco, you are exempt from this obligation since the law of November 26th 2003. However if you’d like to get a temporary residency permit, you can ask for it.
You can start the process to get a permit at the Agora from August 31st to September 25th 2009 to the Prefecture’s permanence then after that directly to the Prefecture.
Information concerning your application for a temporary residency permit is available on the Prefecture’s website .

The Pass campus alsace allows to use Strasbourg's agglomeration's buses and trams after starting rights at CTS office.
How to obtain your Badgéo card on the public transportation company of Strasbourg (CTS).

With a subscription, you can rent a car, in self-service close to your place of residence 24/7. Consult the “Autot’trement” website.

Phone

To telephone from France to abroad, you need to dial 00, followed by the country’s number and finally the number of the subscriber. You can call from a public telephone box. They accept credit cards, telephone cards with build-in microchip, telephone card with a code. Yon can buy them in Post offices, tobacconists and specialized stores. Attention, there are several types of cards and if you want to call abroad specify that you need an international card.

If you wish to take a mobile phone, it is advisable to take a subscription-free and commitment-free formula. It is a formula without any bill. Once your credit is empty, you can buy another card at the tobacconist, the specialized stores, gas stations, or some supermarkets. You can choose the sum of the refill card. However, the cost of the phone calls is higher in this formula, as well as the price of the telephone. In some conditions (longer stay), choosing the subscription option is more advantageous.

The price of the telephone starts at 1 euro and the phone calls’ prices are really cheaper. On the other hand, the subscription requires a 12 month-commitment minimum. The terms of termination differ from a Telco to another. Take the time to inform yourself well.

You will find information on the French telco on the website “ça peut servir ” (it might help).

These phone numbers are free and accessible everywhere, you do not need nor phone card nor other way of paying your call.

• Medical emergency: dial 15. You will be able to talk to a doctor. The service is available 24/7;
• Police: dial 17
• Fire brigade : dial 18
  

For your information: SOS médecins is a paying service doing consultations at your place of residence directly. It is available 24/7. In Strasbourg to reach it dial: 03.88.75.75.75

The French foreign ministry indicates on its website the list of all the embassies and consulates on the French territory :
http://www.expatries.diplomatie.fr/ Rubrique Annuaires.

You will find some how-to books below. They will help you get your bearings in Strasbourg.

• Strasbourg map saleable at tobacconists
• The Guide Ulysse and the university’s diary --- you will get both during your registration.
• The Strassbuch available in November, December in every place frequented by students (reception desks, MGEL…)