Are you eligible for the ARPE?

Launched last April, the "aide à la recherche du premier emploi" (ARPE, for Support to Search of First Job) is accessible to International graduates of the French higher education system. You can send an application up to four months after graduating.

Am I eligible?

Are you a former international student recently graduated in the French higher education system and currently looking for a job? If you were a scholarship holder on social skills with few resources or in apprenticeship during the last year of your studies, you may be eligible to benefit from the "aide à la recherche du premier emploi" (ARPE, for Support to Search of First Job).

The subsidy seeks to better support young graduates with small revenues to help them enter labour market. The subsidy is paid during four months and can take the form of a prolongation of the scholarship earned during the first year of preparation to the degree, or a 300€ monthly revenue for students in apprenticeship. According to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research, about 126,000 young graduates may immediately apply for the financial help.

What are the criteria?

DUT, BTS, Licence, Masters, Engineer degree… The ARPE is designed for degrees with professional purpose and international students who studied in these careers are eligible. First condition to benefit from the scholarship: applicants must have finished their studies and be under 28 years old.

Second condition: the level of revenues. Applicants must have benefitted from a scholarship on social criteria (level 0 bis to 7) during the year of passing their degree. The ARPE is also available if you passed your degree in apprenticeship and your overall gross revenue did not exceed 33,100 euros.

Finally, note that the ARPE may not stack with the "revenu de solidarité active" (RSA, for Active Solidarity Revenue), the "garantie jeunes" (Warranty for the Young), an apprenticeship contract or a professionalisation contract.

What are the steps to follow?

Apply for the ARPE on the CROUS website up to four months after your exam results of the end of studies. Additional details and a list of documents to provide may be read on the website of the French Ministry of Education.

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