Details

• France
• MAECO-22
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 3 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

There is a big Erasmus community in Toulouse (ESN Toulouse and AEGEE, you will find on social media), I didn't know that before, but if you're into that and wanna connect with other student, get into the WhatsApp group (you can already join before you arrived to get an image of it) and just go to the first events. There, you will find a lot of students just arriving in Toulouse and also the organizers can help you with questions. For the Crous housing and I think in general student housing in France you need to get housing insurance in advance, but they will send you all the information, I took studyAssur. I travelled by BlaBlaCar bus (first by train to Amsterdam because I was visiting someone there and then from Amsterdam to Toulouse by bus). I gotta say it was not the most comfortable ride because it took like 20 hrs but I guess worth for the green travel bonus.

2. Accommodation

It was chill for me, I just filled out with the university form (what Capitole is gonna send you in advance) that I wanted to stay at Crous, the student housing in Toulouse. And I think end of November/ beginning of December I found out that I got a place from beginning of January. I think usually everyone gets a place there, but its uncertain until that time. If possible, note that you wanna stay at Crous Arsenal. That's where I stayed and its super close to the uni, it's on campus actually, and not far from the city, and next to the river. Some Crous place are very far away from everything. It's a very safe area I'd say, but in general everywhere in Toulouse. The usual student room is just very small (9 m2) but also very cheap, like 280€ (+ every student can apply for an approximately 50€ study grant (CAF))

3. Academic life at host university

TSE is a very good university, also internationally known for that. The semester at TSE (M1 Economics Master) the semester was only from 5.1. until 20.3. and exam weeks beginning of April, so a very short semester. The courses are usually not demanding during the semester but a lot of content for the final exams, more than at WU. There are, however, also courses without final exams, they're more chill I'd say. Behavioral Economics is a nice and rather chill course (no exam), and Advanced Macroeconomics was very demanding, a lot to study for the final, but also I learned a lot theory. I wanted to do Advanced Microeconomics as well but the teacher had such a thick French accent, I couldn't follow at all, but usually it was international teachers with good English skills.

5. Every day life in the host country

Would recommend to get a Velo Toulouse bike abonnement, everywhere bike spots, easiest way to get around, only 20€ for a year. Otherwise there's also public transport (buses, subway, tram) Very safe city, easily possible to walk home alone as a woman. There are uni sports activities where you need to register on time (on the second). There's a nice volleyball team from TSE, I joined them for the period, was a really good decision (bds_tse on Instagram). It's a very young city, full of students, the Erasmus organizations (ESN and AEGEE) are organizing events literally every day there and in general there are a lot of events, bars, everywhere.

6. Testimonial

Toulouse was for sure the best city choice to do an exchange semester at. The people are very open, friendly, it's easy to get to know new people. Living next to the Garonne is for sure a plus for runners. If you're more into going out you should probably go to the Erasmus events, if you're more focused on studying a should get to know more the people in your class I'd say, everyone is usually very nice and welcoming. All in all was a very good choice and a great experience for me.