Types of Higher Education Institutions in France

Posted by Isra Anwar

March 03, 2015

Higher education institutions in France

The nature of the French advanced education framework is perceived far and wide. Its wide mixed bag of foundations offers phenomenal open doors for showing and research in every subject and at each level. After the USA and England, France is the nation that draws in the biggest number of global understudies on the planet. Universal understudies make up more than 15 percent of the understudies at French colleges and more than 25 percent of France's prestigious Grandes Écoles'.

There are three main categories of higher education institutions in France, where ELS’s first European partner institution, SKEMA, is located: public universities, the Grandes Écoles (which include France’s prestigious schools of business and management) and schools of art and architecture.

Public Universities

France's 83 state funded colleges offer scholarly, specialized, and proficient degree programs in all orders, setting you up for professions in exploration and expert practice in every believable field. They are decently appropriated all through the country, from the Sorbonne in Paris (established in 1257) to the innovative grounds of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis.

Of the 2.2 million understudies in the French advanced education framework, 80 percent go to the nation's state funded colleges. France's colleges are open establishments, subsidized by the legislature. This framework permits the colleges to offer you a superb instruction at an extremely moderate cost. In keeping with the guideline of "Egalité," the same educational cost charges apply to both local and global understudies, which extend from €177 for License projects to €372 for doctoral projects (2011-12 scholastic year).

The colleges offer projects in all orders, and recompense degrees at each level, from the License (three years), to the Master's (five years), to the Doctorate (eight years).

Notwithstanding customary scholastic degrees, the state funded college framework likewise offers degrees in designing, business, reporting and correspondence. Projects in solution, drug store and dentistry are likewise given only by the state funded colleges, which work in close collaboration with real showing clinics, known as CHUs (focuses hospitaliers universitaires).

Grande Ecoles

These prestigious − and uniquely French − institutions may be either public or private, and their relatively small size gives you ample opportunities to interact with faculty.

There are around 250 Grandes Écoles in France, offering degrees in business, engineering, political science and other specialized fields. Some of the Grandes Écoles are members of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (CGE).

In all, the CGE comprises 216 schools, which break down as follows:

143 Schools of Engineering
39 Schools of Management
20 other Schools (ENS, Veterinary, etc.)
14 schools located outside France (mainly in Belgium, Morocco, Spain and Switzerland)

The basic degree offered in the Grandes Écoles is equivalent to a Master's degree, and generally takes five years to complete. It may be a Master of Science (MSc), Master of Business Administration (MBA), or a Mastère Spécialisé (Ms – which requires one additional year of study following the Grandes Écoles degree).

The traditional path through Grandes Écoles requires completing a competitive entrance exam after two years of preparatory classes at a préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE), directly after secondary school. After you are accepted, you would then complete three more years of increasingly specialized study. However many schools today offer alternative admission procedures, which allow you, as an international student, to apply at different stages of your academic career. For example, ELS’s partner institution, SKEMA, France's largest Grande École specializing in management, offers international students who have successfully completed a four year bachelor degree abroad to take a one-year Masters of Science: this is equivalent to the fifth and final year of the Grandes Écoles system.

Dependent on whether they are public or private, the Grandes Écoles’ annual tuition fees range on average from €500 to €10,000.

Schools of Business and Management

Maybe the most famous sort of Grandes Écoles are the Schools of Business and Management. There are 71 Schools of Business and Management affirmed by the French Government, of which 39 are additionally individuals from the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles.

A considerable lot of France's schools of business and administration were built in association with the nearby Chamber of Commerce and, therefore, they have constantly offered courses and instructing routines that meet this present reality needs of today's worldwide economy and business environment. Most projects incorporate temporary positions and some manifestation of study abroad, giving understudies a really involved experience that will improve their business prospects.

In 2011, The Financial Times ranked six French schools among the top 10 Master's in Management programs whilst, in 2010, The Economist included six French MBA programs among the top 100 in the world. Both are proof of the high esteem in which France’s Schools of Business and Management are held.