Note culturelle: L’université en France

In France, l’université (the university) is the parent institution with sub-divisions called facultés* corresponding to an area of academic study. For example, the Université de Toulouse is sub-divided into the Faculté des Lettres (Letters: language, literature, art), Faculté des Sciences Humaines (Humanities, Social Science), Faculté de droit (Law), Faculté de médecine (Medicine), Faculté des sciences politiques (Political Science), and so on. Students are usually enrolled in a specific faculté, so they will refer to the university as la fac, the abbreviation of la faculté. It is different in other countries. For example, in Belgium, they say à l’univ.

In the majority of countries in Europe, the state heavily funds post-secondary studies in public universities. In France for instance, the average cost of an undergrad degree is about 170 euros/year.   

*Faculté and Faculty can be false cognates: in the context of a university, the faculté is an institution and a place. In the English world, Faculty sometimes has this same meaning (e.g., Faculty of Medicine), but it usually means the teachers at a university, college, or school.