2027 Budget: Mélenchon Criticizes Proposed Tuition Fees for BTS and Prep Programs for Students Without Scholarships

1 octobre 2026 3 Min Read

The government is provoking the student body. It wants to impose a fee for enrollment in BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur) programs or preparatory classes. This is absurd and irresponsible. Educating young people is not a cost, but an investment for society as a whole! Lecornu is choosing the very moment when high school and college students are mobilizing to exacerbate social injustice in education. This provocation clearly shows who is responsible for the youth revolt.

Charging students without scholarships for enrollment in BTS programs or preparatory classes: this is the proposal outlined in a draft budget for 2027 obtained by AFP. Jean-Luc Mélenchon sees this as an attack on young people. But the text is not yet law, and the two educational tracks do not start from the same position.

Key Fact

According to AFP, the draft bill calls for annual fees of 178 euros for BTS programs and 270 euros for preparatory classes for the grandes écoles for students without scholarships. Students receiving scholarships, in particular, would be exempt. These amounts are listed in Article 54 of the 2027 draft finance bill; they are still subject to the legislative process and may therefore be modified or scrapped. ()

What Happened

In a message dated October 1, 2026, and included in the shared content, Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemns this proposal and attributes it to Sébastien Lecornu’s government. He places it within the context of protests by high school and college students. However, the message provided does not, on its own, establish the scale of these protests or demonstrate that the mea would be the cause.

The budget information was reported on the same day by AFP, based on a draft that it states it obtained. A draft is neither a text that has been voted on nor a tuition fee that is already due. ()

The Context

The distinction between BTS and preparatory classes matters. For the 2026–2027 academic year, enrollment in a public BTS program does not incur tuition fees, according to Service-Public.fr. In contrast, students in preparatory classes are enrolled in both high school and university. The government website Étudiant.gouv specifies that affected students in public high schools must pay university tuition at the standard rate, which is 178 euros for 2026–2027. Presenting the preparatory program as entirely free today therefore glosses over part of the cost. ()

It is also important not to confuse the different fees. The student life and campus contribution amounts to 105 euros in 2026–2027. CPGE students complete this process as part of their university enrollment; students enrolled in a BTS program at a high school are not subject to this requirement. ()

Key Figures

178 euros per year for BTS programs and 270 euros per year for CPGE programs for students not receiving scholarships: these are the amounts proposed in the draft reviewed by AFP, not the current rates. ()
178 euros in 2026–2027: the university tuition already owed by non-exempt CPGE students affected by dual enrollment in public high school. ()

What the facts show

According to details of the draft reported by AFP, the government justifies the mea by citing the difference in treatment between these programs and other higher education programs. The announced exemption for scholarship recipients addresses part of the social criticism. It does not resolve the issue for families without scholarships who would have to pay these new fees. ()

Mélenchon denounces a new financial barrier: in principle, the bill does indeed create such a barrier for the targeted students. However, his statement should not obscure a crucial distinction: for public BTS programs, this would be a new enrollment fee; for preparatory classes, it would be added to the existing university enrollment fee already paid by those not exempt. ()

Key Takeaways

The debate centers on a budget mea proposed for 2027, not on a tax that is already in effect. Its actual impact will depend on the final text adopted. In the meantime, two things are certain: AFP reports that new fees will be introduced for students not receiving scholarships, and the current cost for a prep school student is already more than zero euros. ()

Source: Jean-Luc Mélenchon