ICP's erasmus and inclusion strategy
The Catholic University of Paris (ICP) values open-mindedness and intercultural dialogue and welcomes all students, academics, researchers, teachers, and administrative staff, regardless of nationality, culture, language, or religion.
The Erasmus+ programme is the cornerstone of the ICP’s international development strategy. The programme’s political priority of "Inclusion and Diversity" guides the development of actions to ensure equal and equitable access to mobility for all participants, especially those facing obstacles. The significant year-on-year increase in incoming and outgoing mobility for students with fewer opportunities (SFO) testifies to the inclusive dimension promoted by the ICP in:
- its strategy for promoting outgoing mobility;
- the implementation of tools to enable SFO mobility;
- the deployment of actions to develop inclusion schemes for incoming students, staff, and teachers.
This document aims to present the ICP’s inclusion strategy within the Erasmus+ framework, the actions implemented, and the objectives set to ensure equal opportunities for all students, teachers, and staff: health issues, disabilities, or specific needs should not hinder mobility.
- Since 2021, 8% of participants in the Erasmus+ programme (students, teachers, and staff) at the ICP have benefited from the inclusion top-up during their mobility.
- Over 5 years, more than 50 participants have been identified and supported in their Erasmus mobility, representing 7.6% of the total students selected for a mobility, and have thus benefited from the inclusion top-up. The International Relations Office (IRO) aims to reach a rate of 15% of Erasmus mobility students benefiting from the inclusion top-up over the 2026–2028 period.
- In 2025–2026, the ICP Disability Commission followed 5.4% of the total student body, across all year groups. In the same academic year, 5.5% of all students participating in exchange mobility under the Erasmus+ programme were students with disabilities or long-term health conditions. By strengthening inclusion arrangements for mobility, the IRO supports the institution’s culture of inclusion.
- In 2025–2026, 68 scholarship holders expressed a wish to undertake mobility in Europe.
The university's profile on inclusion and diversity
The ICP has put in place solidarity mechanisms based on a culture of inclusion and a commitment to social openness:
- Modulation of tuition fees according to students’ and/or their families’ income;
- Financial support through the ICP Solidarity Scholarship based exclusively on a social criterion, thus enabling tuition fee exemption for students facing major economic obstacles;
- Exceptional aid fund to support students experiencing temporary difficulties;
- The ICP International Scholarship scheme, open to all students based on social and academic criteria, to ensure equal opportunities and enable the realization of a mobility project despite economic and/or social obstacles. This scholarship is self-funded through philanthropy and is cumulative with the Erasmus+ scholarship, the Normandy Region scholarship (for the Rouen campus), and the CROUS scholarship. In 2026, 89 scholarships were awarded to 94 eligible applicants, representing 20% of students selected for mobility. The Catholic University of Paris thus ensures that students with the greatest economic difficulties can undertake international mobility for internships or studies.
The Health Centre welcomes students and offers them care, listening, health advice, health prevention actions, or training. It supports, in full confidentiality, all students and staff with disabilities or long-term health conditions (LTC), in close coordination with the Disability Reference Officer of each faculty, the IRO Disability Reference Officer for international exchange students at the ICP, and the Outgoing Mobility Coordinator in Europe for ICP students on study or internship mobility.
This scheme is supervised by the Social Worker, who is responsible for disseminating best practices, facilitating exchanges across the institution, and coordinating actions between services concerned with inclusion.
The Listening and Psychological Support Centre, the result of a unique partnership between the School of Practicing Psychologists and the ICP, complements this organization. It provides free psychological support to students who request it, offering indispensable psychological assistance.
Embracing inclusive mobility
The IRO is committed to creating the conditions for successful outgoing mobility across the three campuses of Paris, Reims, and Rouen through its inclusion and diversity policy, to better enable target groups to benefit from opportunities in European and international mobility. Particular attention is paid to identifying and supporting SFO groups to overcome barriers and apprehensions about going abroad.
Within the Erasmus+ programme, the ICP stands out with a proactive policy that goes beyond the mandatory framework set by Erasmus+ France Agency in its inclusion guide of January 2026. Three eligibility criteria for the inclusion top-up, which are optional from the perspective of Erasmus+ France Agency, are thus retained as full criteria by the ICP.
The IRO’s Erasmus+ inclusion strategy targets five priority groups:
- Students with disabilities or long-term health conditions;
- Students residing in municipalities classified as France Ruralities Revitalization (FRR);
- Students residing in addresses classified as priority urban neighbourhoods;
- Recipients of higher education scholarships based on social criteria at levels 4, 5, 6, and 7;
- Students belonging to households with a CAF family quotient of €551 or less per month.
The ICP encourages access to mobility for students with long-term health conditions and students with disabilities by promoting Erasmus+ scholarship inclusion top-ups. From the application stage, SFO students are identified and targeted by the IRO in awareness campaigns and throughout the mobility process.
The inclusion framework set by the Erasmus+ programme guarantees optimal reception arrangements for SFO students. Consequently, the IRO encourages SFO students to carry out their mobility at a partner university within the Erasmus+ programme to ensure a destination adapted to their needs.
Actions
- The IRO implements communication that explicitly integrates the inclusion and diversity dimension during information meetings, individual interviews, or calls for applications. The IRO advocates that no specific student need will prejudice their selection for mobility. The issue of disability is presented from the start of the mobility promotion.
- The IRO systematically and regularly identifies and informs all target groups about the possibility of accessing the inclusion top-up. See: summary sheet on inclusion arrangements.
- When creating new partnerships, the IRO ensures that partners meet the necessary reception conditions for all students, regardless of their situation.
- The IRO publishes the label "Inclusive University" on the partner world map to indicate support arrangements for students with specific needs and thus help students in their choices.
- The IRO’s selection process for applications takes into account students’ mobility needs according to their individual situations. For example, for students with hearing impairments wishing to be directed towards Francophone mobility, their needs will be taken into account in assignments.
- The Outgoing Mobility Coordinator in Europe is also the Disability Reference Officer and ensures liaison with the Disability Commission to guarantee that all necessary adjustments have been taken into account during the organization of mobility. The IRO promotes cooperation among all pedagogical actors, disability reference officers, the Social Worker, and nurses from the different campuses who are trained to promote mobility and mobility aids for those who can benefit from them.
- The IRO ensures, at least 5 months before the start of mobility, that all students with specific needs (e.g., extended time) have been accommodated by their host university and that all lengthy administrative procedures have been anticipated (e.g., translation of medical certificates).
- The IRO establishes certain agreements guaranteeing reserved places for scholarship holders (for example, for mobility in Dublin).
- The IRO supports participants in the administrative procedures for mobility preparation, with particular awareness-raising for specific groups through, for example, individual meetings.
- During mobility, personalized follow-up of all participants is guaranteed by the IRO, especially for target groups. This includes ensuring that students are well integrated into the host institution’s life and that the terms of pedagogical contracts are respected.
- Payments of Erasmus scholarships and inclusion top-ups for students with fewer opportunities are accelerated and simplified.
Studying at ICP: support for students with specific needs
The ICP’s IRO is committed to creating the conditions for successful incoming mobility through its inclusion and diversity policy, to enable SFO students to fully benefit from their mobility.
A concrete example: through its application forms, the ICP invites its partners to inform the IRO about incoming students with specific needs.
Actions
- Personalized follow-up of incoming students: various reception services and schemes recognized by the "Welcome to France" label (2 stars).
- The IRO is committed to supporting students in all aspects of their mobility, before their arrival and throughout their stay. To facilitate installation and arrival in France, the IRO provides incoming students with a digital welcome platform, the ICP International Welcome Desk, 4 months before their arrival. This platform guarantees support in administrative, academic, housing, banking, insurance, as well as practical or safety advice and available inclusion arrangements. Orientation sessions are organized online, 3 months before mobility, to simplify stay preparation.
- The IRO implements reception arrangements to ensure student integration. It organizes three integration days, during which it presents the various services and all inclusion actors at the ICP.
- The Incoming Mobility Coordinator is also the Disability Reference Officer and connects students who need it with the infirmary, the psychological support service, or the disability reference officers of each faculty.
- Any financial or health-related housing challenges raised by partner universities or students are fully taken into account. These students are then prioritized for accommodation in adapted public CROUS residences.
- Each year, the ICP applies for Erasmus Action Key 171 projects with the aim of enabling mobility for SFO students from third countries not associated with the Erasmus+ programme. For example, since 2024, the ICP has coordinated an Erasmus+ financing agreement with partner universities in Lebanon and Ukraine.
Inclusive mobility for teachers and staff
The IRO is committed to ensuring that all teachers or staff wishing to undertake mobility abroad, regardless of their situation, can do so under the best possible conditions. Thanks to its participation in the Erasmus KA171 programme, the ICP enables teachers and staff from partner universities who may face economic, geographical, and/or health obstacles to undertake mobility.
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