As the academic year comes to an end, students in Paris are moving out of their accommodation, without knowing whether they'll be back when the new academic year starts in September. In mid-April, moving procedures began for those whose university accommodation had been requisitioned to accommodate security personnel, public servants and volunteers due to work at the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. This will continue until the end of June, with the first occupants due to arrive around July 20.
With 22,000 accommodation places in the Paris region managed by the Centres des Oeuvres Universitaires et Scolaires (a regional organization that provides student accommodation, CROUS), of which 30% are unoccupied in the summer, the interministerial delegation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games believed that the operation would be painless when they decided on it in the spring of 2023. Only 12 residences out of 150 were selected, with a total of 3,200 units.
However, at the end of August 2023, the Paris administrative court suspended CROUS' decision to limit leases on student accommodation to June 30. But on December 29, 2023, the Conseil d'Etat eventually approved the requisitions, noting that "various forms of assistance have been put in place to alleviate the consequences of a change of accommodation," including an allowance of €100 and two tickets to attend Olympic events.
With less than 100 days to go to the Games, time is running out, and Thierry Bégué, director of the Paris CROUS, is scouring his stock in real time for any vacancy that could be offered as a rehousing solution to one of the 660 students who have requested one. In total, in the three academies of Paris, Versailles and Créteil, more than 1,400 students have requested a new room for the summer period, most of them so that they can do an internship or work to pay for their studies.
"We had 150 places available on April 11, and were able to relocate 82 students, providing them with cardboard boxes, tape, logistical help with moving and several trucks to transport their belongings to the 30 new residences," he explained. Sixteen students made their own arrangements to move into their new rooms, bringing the total number of vacancies to 98.
According to the French higher education minister, the provision of these facilities makes "sense." Sylvie Retailleau told senators on April 9: "It will enable us to meet the needs of those who will be coming to work – police officers, firefighters, medical staff – for the biggest event ever organized in France." A few months earlier, her colleague in charge of sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, had caused an uproar by saying students were "proud to leave their accommodation."
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