Judging by the latest statistics gathered by Campus France, an online portal run by the French government that assists students in their university applications, there's likely to be close to 300,000 international students in France this year. 

Here's a closer look. 

France - a top destination

France is the third most popular destination for international students, following hot on the heels of the US and the UK (which had 740,000 and 428,000 international students respectively). Australia comes in fourth with 250,000. These stats (pictured below), are from Unesco research in 2011.

(Photo: Campus France)

The relatively huge number of international students in France - 295,084 in 2013-2014 - makes up 7 percent of the world's foreign student population.

France welcomes four times as many students as it sends off 

So where do they come from?

In 2013-2014, the most represented country among the foreign students in France was Morocco (34,000), followed by China (30,000), and Algeria (22,000). Students from these countries made up 40 percent of the total population of international students. 

In Europe (see map below), the most popular origins were Italy (9,322), Germany (8,978), and Spain (6,963).

Meanwhile, there were 4,909 who came from the US and 3,982 from the UK. 

(Photo: Campus France)

Where do they study?

Paris is the most popular study destination, with almost 59,000 students burying their noses in textbooks there. Next most popular was nearby Versailles and Créteil. These cities had foreign student populations in 2013-2014 of 24,000 and 22,000 respectively. 

Indeed, Paris has a stellar reputation worldwide as a student city, topping the QS 'best student city' rankings for years running. 

Other common destinations for students included Lyon (22,000), Lille (15,000) and Toulouse (15,000) - which was recently ranked as the best place to be a student in France. Many cities could boast more than 10,000 students, including Marseille, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rennes, Grenoble, and Strasbourg (see map below).

(Photo: Campus France)

What exactly do they study?

A total of 73.8 of the international students are enrolled in university courses. The most recent stats from Unesco say that there were 24,269 Erasmus students in France in 2011-2012. 

Foreign students in France make up 12.1 percent of the total undergraduate population, and 41.4 percent of the doctoral students.

As for what they actually study, the graph below shows that most opt for courses in languages, arts, and humanities. The second most popular field was sport sciences, followed by economics. 

(Photo: Campus France)

So what next?

Well, now you know what you can expect and who you might meet - and you can always click the link below to find out more about visas and student life. But wait, there's more. 

READ ALSO: Studying in France - what you need to know