France is grappling with a severe student housing shortage as three million students return to university amid rapidly rising rents and a shrinking supply of affordable accommodation. In major cities, landlords of studios and small apartments are reportedly receiving between 750 and 1,000 rental applications on average, forcing some students to send up to fifty requests per day. The crisis has real academic consequences: a 2023 Opinion Way poll found that 17% of 18-to-24-year-olds said they had abandoned their studies due to an inability to find housing.