A French: '''grande école''' (in French ɡʁɑ̃d ekɔl/;) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other previous French colonies such as Morocco and Tunisia. French: Grandes écoles are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream French public university system, and take the shape of institutes dedicated to teaching, research and professional training in either pure natural and social sciences, or applied sciences such as engineering, architecture, business administration, or public policy and administration.[1] [2]
French: Grandes écoles primarily admit students based on their national ranking in written and oral exams called French: concours, which are organized annually by the French Ministry of Education.[3] While anyone can register for French: concours, successful candidates have almost always completed two or three years of dedicated preparatory classes (French: classes préparatoires) prior to admission.[4] [5] As they are separate from universities, most of them do not deliver the undergraduate degree of the diplôme de licence but deliver master's grande école degrees.[6] Admission to the French: grandes écoles is extremely selective.[7] [8] [9]
French: Grandes écoles are generally publicly funded and therefore have limited tuition costs. Some, especially business schools (French: Écoles de commerce), are organised privately and therefore have more costly tuition.
The term grande école originated in 1794 after the French Revolution,[10] when the National Convention created the, the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot created the École centrale des travaux publics (later the École polytechnique), and the abbot Henri Grégoire created the .
The model was probably the military academy at Mézières, of which Monge was an alumnus. The selective admission opens up to higher education based on academic merit.
Some schools included in the category have roots in the 17th and 18th centuries and are older than the term grande école, which dates to 1794. Their forerunners were schools aimed at graduating civil servants, such as technical officers (École d'Arts et Métiers, renamed Arts et Métiers ParisTech, established in 1780), mine supervisors (École des mines de Paris, established in 1783), bridge and road engineers (École royale des ponts et chaussées, established in 1747), and shipbuilding engineers (École des ingénieurs-constructeurs des vaisseaux royaux, established in 1741).
Five military engineering academies and graduate schools of artillery were established in the 17th century in France, such as the école de l'artillerie de Douai (established in 1697) and the later école du génie de Mézières (established in 1748), wherein mathematics, chemistry and sciences were already a major part of the curriculum taught by first-rank scientists such as Pierre-Simon Laplace, Charles Étienne Louis Camus, Étienne Bézout, Sylvestre-François Lacroix, Siméon Denis Poisson, Gaspard Monge (most of whom were later to form the teaching corps of École Polytechnique during the Napoleonic era).
In 1802, Napoleon created the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, which is also considered a grande école, although it trains only army officers.
During the 19th century, a number of higher-education grandes écoles were established to support industry and commerce, such as École nationale supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne in 1816, École supérieure de Commerce de Paris (today ESCP Business School, founded in 1819), L'institut des sciences et industries du vivant et de l'environnement (Agro ParisTech) in 1826, and École centrale des Arts et Manufactures (École centrale Paris) in 1829.
During the latter part of the 19th century and in the 20th century, more grandes écoles were established for education in businesses as well as newer fields of science and technology, including Rouen Business School (NEOMA Business School) in 1871, Sciences Po Paris in 1872, École nationale supérieure des télécommunications in 1878, Hautes Études commerciales in 1881,[11] École supérieure d'électricité in 1894, Ecole des hautes Etudes commerciales du Nord in 1906, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences économiques et commerciales in 1907, and Supaero in 1909.
Since then, France has had a unique dual higher education system, with small and middle-sized specialized graduate schools operating alongside the traditional university system. Some fields of study are nearly exclusive to one part of this dual system, such as medicine in universités only, or architecture in écoles only.
The grande école (and "prépa") system also exists in former French colonies, Switzerland, and Italy (Napoleon, as king of Italy for ten years, established the French system there). The influence of this system was strong in the 19th century throughout the world, as can be seen in the original names of many world universities (Caltech was originally "Polytechnic Institute", as was ETH Zürich—"the Polytechnicum"—in addition to the Polytechnique in Montréal. Some institutions in China, Russia, the UK, and the US also have names of some French grandes écoles, adapted to their languages). The success of the German and Anglo-Saxon university models from the late 19th century reduced the influence of the French system in some of the English-speaking world.
There is no standard definition or official list of grandes écoles. The term grande école is not employed in the French education code, with the exception of a quotation in the social statistics. It generally employs the expression of "écoles supérieures" to indicate higher educational institutions that are not universities.
The Conférence des grandes écoles (CGE) (Grandes Écoles Conference) is a non-profit organization. It uses a broad definition of grande école, which is not restricted to the school's selectivity or the prestige of the diploma awarded. The members of CGE have not made an official or "accepted" list of grandes écoles. For example, some engineering school members of the CGE cannot award state-recognized engineering degrees.
The admissions process for grandes écoles differs greatly from those of other French universities. To be admitted into most French grandes écoles, most students study in a two-year preparatory program in one of the CPGEs (see below) before taking a set of competitive national exams. Different exams are required by groups (called "banques") of different schools. The national exams are sets of written tests, given over the course of several weeks, that challenge the student on the intensive studies of the previous two years. During the summer, those students who succeed in the written exams then take a further set of exams, usually one-hour oral exams, during which they are given a problem to solve. After 20 minutes of preparation, the candidate presents the solution to a professor, who challenges the candidate on the answer and the assumptions being made. Afterwards, candidates receive a final national ranking, which determines admission to their grande école of choice.
See main article: Classe préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles.
Classes préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE), or prépas (preparatory classes for grandes écoles), are two-year classes, in either sciences, literature, or economics. These are the traditional way in which most students prepare to pass the competitive recruitment examination of the main grandes écoles. Most are held in state lycées (high schools); a few are private. Admission is competitive and based on the students' lycée grades. Preparatory classes with the highest success rates in the entrance examinations of the top grandes écoles are highly selective. Students who are not admitted to the grande école of their choice often repeat the second year of preparatory classes and attempt the exam again the following year.
There are five categories of prépas:
Some schools are accessible after a selection based on the grades of the two last years of lycée (High school) and/or the baccalaureate (High school diploma) results. For example, in engineering, the most attractive and selective ones are the seven schools composing the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA network), but there are dozens of selective and less selective engineering schools accessible directly after the baccalaureate. Some other famous highly selective engineering school are the three Universités de Technologie.[12] It is also possible to join these schools in third year after a preparatory class or university and then the recruitment is based on a contest or the student results.
Most of these five-year grandes écoles are public, with very low admission fees (between 601€ and 2,350€ per year), and are free for national scholarship holders. A few others are either private or public with very high admission fee (up to 10,000€ per year, without exoneration for scholarship holders). These are usually the least selective ones and offer five-year training to students who otherwise could not have enrolled in a five-year curriculum directly after High school.
The top three public engineering grandes écoles with standard admission fees (among 70), according to the French magazine L'Étudiant noir, are in 2023 the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse (INSA Toulouse) and École des Mines de Douai (IMT Nord Europe).[13] However, the rankings may differ significantly between years, magazines, and the metric of interest (academic excellence, employability, diversity, ...).
Most of them simply include the two-year preparatory class in their program while others like INSA Toulouse chose the Bachelor's master's doctorate system (BMD or LMD in French) to start the specialization earlier. Most students choose to get their licence, master or doctorate close to home.
These years of preparation can be highly focused on the school program so students have a greater chance of succeeding in the admission exam or contest in their school if there is one, but they are not prepared to take the examinations for other schools so their chance of success in these other examinations is low.
The advantage is that instead of studying simply to pass the admission exams, the student will study topics more targeted to their training and future specialization. The main advantage is that students choose their speciality more according to their interests and less according to their rank. (Indeed, the rank obtained after standard preparatory classes determines a list of schools with their specialities).
On another note, the selection process during the first preparatory year is considered less stressful than in a standard first preparatory class, and the first year often offers broader scientific training since it does not specifically prepare students for competitions. Nevertheless, the selection percentage are often the same order as during standard preparatory classes. The top-ranking five year grandes écoles also recruit some of the best students who followed one or two years of CPGE, through parallel admission procedures.
The prépa years are not required to sit the entrance exams. Moreover, in many schools, there is also the possibility of “parallel admission” to a grande école. Parallel admissions are open to university students or students from other schools that decide not to take the entrance exams. This method of recruitment is proving increasingly popular, with many students choosing to first go to a university and then enroll in a grande école.
Some grandes écoles have a dual diploma arrangement in which a student can switch establishments in the last year to receive diplomas from both establishments.
The French Grandes écoles mostly do not fit into the international, Anglo-American framework regarding their diplomas, nor in the European Bologna system. In 2007, the OECD remarked in a report that "their diplomas do not fit easily into the increasingly standardised international nomenclature for academic study ... Instead, students effectively study for five years and are then awarded a masters degree, with no intermediate diploma".[14]
However, some Grandes écoles have decided to adopt the standard, European Bologna system of diplomas recently in order to better integrate themselves in the international academic competition. In their 2008 book European Universities in Transition, Carmelo Mazza, Paolo Quattrone and Angelo Riccaboni underlined that "the vast majority of Grandes Ecoles do not give any degree" upon completion of undergraduate studies, but that "[i]n practice, for accreditation or student exchange purposes, they grant a certificate of 'equivalence to a bachelor's degree'".[15]
Full-time faculty researchers to assume their responsibility as teaching staff by giving lectures, accompanying students in their projects, participating in the campus life and representing the school during symposia.
Their contractual number of working hours is defined at the beginning of each academic year in a lump sum workload timetable.
Full-time faculty/teaching are in charge of giving lectures, but also shoulder pedagogic coordination. As such, they are deeply involved in their respective campus' life and accountable for the teaching quality as well as the pedagogic continuous improvement of the School.
Prominent professors: according to L'Etudiant, a prominent professor is permanent professor, holding a PhD from a French or foreign Higher Education Institution which is AACSB- or EQUIS-accredited and ranked amongst the Shanghai 2019 top 500 ranking.
Adjunct Professors hold chair in another Higher Education Institution. Their teaching conditions are various, but not always stipulated in a contractual form.
Visiting professors are teaching staff which hold a chair along another activity, e.g. a consultant or entrepreneur giving lectures once or twice a week.
Guest professors are international professors who take part in special lectures, classes or programme.
Grandes écoles can be classified into following broad categories:
See main article: École normale supérieure.
These schools train researchers and professors and may be a beginning for executive careers in public administration or business. Many French Nobel Prize and Fields Medal laureates were educated at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Lyon or Paris-Saclay.[16] There are four ENS:
Until recently, unlike most other grandes écoles, écoles normales supérieures (ENS) did not award specific diplomas. Students who completed their curriculum were entitled to be known as "ENS alumni" or "normaliens". The schools encourage their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions while providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma. Normaliens from France and other European Union countries are considered civil servants in training (unless they were recruited by parallel admission), and as such are paid a monthly salary in exchange for agreeing to serve France for ten years, including those years spent as students.
Many engineering schools recruit most of their students who have completed their education in scientific preparatory classes (2 years of post-baccalaureat study). Many are also joint graduate schools from several regional universities, sometimes in association with other international higher education networks.
In France, the term 'engineer' has a broader meaning compared to the one understood in most other countries and can imply a person who has achieved a high level of study in both fundamental and applied sciences, as well as business management, humanities and social sciences. The best engineering schools will often provide such a general and very intensive education, although this is not always the case. Most of the schools of the following first four groups train the so-called 'generaliste' engineers:
1. ParisTech schools of engineering (however, some of these schools are now part of the new Paris-Saclay University. Also some of these schools teach only a specific area):
2. Centrale Graduate Schools of engineering; its students are commonly known as pistons (a reference to the piston engine, one of the centrepieces of the Industrial Revolution):
3. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) network is the largest engineer training group in France, with 16,700+ students, administered by the French Ministry of National Education. It consists of grandes écoles distributed throughout mainland France:
4. Instituts polytechniques
5. Réseau Polytech schools of engineering, is a French network of 15 graduate schools of engineering within France's leading technological universities. All schools in the Group offer Master of Engineering degrees in various specialities:
6. Écoles Nationales Supérieures d'Ingénieurs (ENSI), which encompasses approximately 40 grandes écoles:
7. Institut Mines-Telecom schools of engineering
8. École Nationale d'Ingénieurs (ENI) network is an engineer training group:
9. Universités de technologie (UT) group: Compiègne (UTC), Troyes (UTT); Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM)
10. Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
The following schools usually train each student for a more specific area in science or engineering:
11. Grandes écoles of Actuarial Sciences, Statistics and Econometrics
12. Grandes écoles of Chemistry
13. Grandes écoles of Physics
14. Grandes écoles of Information Technology and Telecommunications
15. Grandes écoles of Applied Physics and Technology or Civil and Industrial Engineering
16. Grandes écoles of Biology and other Natural Sciences
17. Other private Grandes écoles offering multiple specialities
Most French business schools are partly privately run, or managed by the regional chambers of commerce.
Business schools recruiting students just after taking the baccalauréat, most of them are private:
The below list contains French business schools that are officially part of the Conférence des grandes écoles.
Business schools recruiting students from post-baccalaureat preparatory classes, high selectivity rate:[18]
Business schools recruiting students with professional experience:
Some schools are accessible after a competitive entrance exam directly after the baccalauréat. Often, students of these schools will progress to an administrative school.
These schools include:
In 2014, Paris-Dauphine University joined the Conférence des grandes écoles and now has the status of university, grand établissement, and grande école.[19] [20]
These schools train students in multidisciplinary fields of social and human studies. Students are prepared for civil service and other public-sector leader positions, but more and more of them do end up working in the private sector. Some of these schools are reserved for French or EEA citizens only.
Institut d'études politiques (IEP, Sciences Po)
Grandes Écoles of Journalism and communication studies
Other Grandes Écoles
Today, there are only 3 grandes écoles that are officially denominated as military academies of the French Republic.
While École polytechnique is also under supervision of the French Ministry of Defence, it is no longer officially a military academy. Only a small number of its students progress to military careers, while between a fifth and a quarter choose to remain in France to work for the state's technical administrations.
There are also other specialized military "grandes écoles":
Altogether, grandes écoles awarded approximately 60,000 master's degrees in 2013, compared with 150,000 master's degrees awarded by all French higher institutions in the same year, including universities.[24]
Grande école graduates in 2013 represent 10% of the French population graduating from high school 5 years before (600,000 in 2008).[25]
Some grandes écoles are renowned in France for their selectivity and the complexity of their curriculum. In the press, they are usually called the "A+" schools, referring to the grade given by some rankings. These elite schools represent less than 1% of the higher education students in France.
Admission to a certain number of these institutions (e.g. l'Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature in Bordeaux) is reserved only to French citizens, raising questions relating to European mobility and institutional reciprocity.[26]
Since 1975, the Comité d'études sur les formations d'ingénieurs has studied the questions of training and job placement for engineers graduating from grandes écoles.
Of the 29 persons who have served as President of France, 17 attended a Grande école.
| President of France | In Office | Grande école(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nowrap | Patrice de MacMahon | 1873 – 1879 | École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr | |
| nowrap | Sadi Carnot | 1887 – 1894 | ||
| nowrap | Paul Doumer | 1931 – 1932 | ||
| nowrap | Albert Lebrun | 1932 – 1940 | ||
| nowrap | Philippe Pétain | 1940 – 1944 | École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr | |
| nowrap | Léon Blum | 1946 – 1947 | École normale supérieure (Paris) | |
| nowrap | Charles de Gaulle | 1959 – 1969 | École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr | |
| nowrap | Alain Poher (Acting) | 1969; 1974 | Mines ParisTech | |
| nowrap | Georges Pompidou | 1969 – 1974 | Sciences Po | |
| nowrap | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | 1974 – 1981 | ||
| nowrap | François Mitterrand | 1981 – 1995 | Sciences Po | |
| nowrap | Jacques Chirac | 1995 – 2007 | Sciences Po | |
| nowrap | Nicolas Sarkozy | 2007 - 2012 | Sciences Po | |
| nowrap | François Hollande | 2012 – 2017 | HEC Paris | |
| nowrap | Emmanuel Macron | 2017 – present | Sciences Po |
Many winners of the Nobel prize attended a Grande école