Famous for its art and culture, France welcomes more tourists than any other country in the world. France is also one of Europe’s top destinations for international students and hosts the third highest number of international students in the world, with 265,000 in 2006, making up 14 percent of France’s student population.
France is a first-class centre for scientific and technological innovation. It owes this standing to its research capacity and its many achievements in such fields as aerospace, transportation, electronics, telecommunications, chemistry, biotechnology, and health, successes confirmed by the number of French winners of the Fields Medal. The French government supports public institutions of higher education, including the universities, thereby lowering the cost of education to each student by approximately €10,000 per year. Public support keeps tuition levels in France among the lowest in the world, while assuring the quality and integrity of degree programs. What's more, no distinction is made in France between French and foreign students: the entrance requirements and admission fees are the same, and the degrees are identical.
CampusFrance is a new entity created to integrate and extend the missions of Agence EduFrance and two other organizations vital to academic and scientific mobility.
CNOUS and EGIDE, now operating under the CampusFrance umbrella, manage the French government’s scholarship programs as well as the inter-university cooperation programs of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Campusfrance.org and CampusFrance’s local offices are the engines behind the organization’s mission of world-class student services. In CampusFrance offices around the world visitors can speak directly with an education specialist to gather information about study in France or to get advice about their options. Students receive concrete, personalized help in matching their goals to available programs, assembling application materials, and tracking applications through the admission process.
The website www.campusfrance.org is visited 100,000 times each month and provides easy access to all the information students need to prepare for a period of study in France. The information is customized to the requirements—and the language—of students in 20 different countries. CampusFrance’s huge online catalogue contains data on 33,000 different programs offered by some 6,000 French institutions of higher education.
CampusFrance supports the coalescence of networks of institutions that wish to facilitate access to their master-level programs. Dedicated websites for several such networks provide information and advice about network programs; they even allow students to complete a common online application.
Six discipline-specific networks, each made up of a few dozen institutions, invite students to apply to master programs using a web-based application procedure that is quick and interactive. Students complete a single, common application with one deadline, noting their institutional preferences; that file is accessed by all of the network’s institutions as they make admission decisions in communal sessions. Each network’s site features an up-to-date presentation of the education and training system used in the discipline, as well as the degrees offered.
Networks are active in the following disciplines:
Engineering • EduIngénierie : www.nplusi.com
Law • EduDroit : www.edudroit.net
Art • EduArt : www.eduart.fr
Economics and management • EduEcoGestion : www.eduecogestion.net
Humanities • EduHumanités : www.eduhumanites.net
Mathematics • EduMaths : www.edumaths.net
The degrees awarded in the French higher education system are based on the European ladder of bachelor, master, and doctorate.
Degrees are awarded based on the successful completion of a specified number of semesters or years of study, expressed in credits as defined by the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). At the core of the French degree system are a set of “national diplomas” that have the same value regardless of the institution that grants them, thanks to the supervision and support provided by the French government.
France has a variety of higher education institutions offering graduate-level education. 87 public universities are spread throughout the country, from the Sorbonne in Paris (founded in 1179) to the new high-tech campus of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, and cover the entire range of academic disciplines.
Research is an integral function of France’s universities. More than 300 doctoral programs, in collaboration with some 1,200 research centres and laboratories, prepare students for scholarly careers. France’s doctoral programs have always been open to international participation. Between 1999 and 2004 the number of foreign doctoral candidates rose by 7.5 percent. International students earn one of every three doctorates awarded by French universities.
Additionally, the Grandes Écoles are uniquely French institutions. Created in the early 19th century in parallel to the university system, they are extremely selective and offer education of a very high standard. Engineering and business are the specialties of most of France’s unique and renowned grandes écoles, freestanding institutions of higher education that may be public or private. But others, including some of the most famous, are devoted to public administration (the Ecole Nationale d’Administration), military sciences, postsecondary teaching and research (the Écoles Normales Supérieures), agronomy, and veterinary medicine.
The classic method of admission to one of the Grandes Écoles (competitive examination after two years of preparatory courses, followed by a three-year course of study) has changed to meet modern professional needs. A parallel admission process exists that is specially designed for foreign students. It is based on degrees and exams, with courses of study between two and five years, depending on the entry level granted by the institution.
France has some 240 schools of engineering, all of which share certain common characteristics related to the recognized quality of the closely regulated, master-level diplôme d’ingénieur that signifies advanced achievement in engineering.
The diplôme d’ingénieur is a national diploma that enables its holder to apply for admission to a doctoral program.
France’s many schools of business and management are diverse enough that anyone can find programs that suit his or her academic background, experience, and interests. All bring the latest management practices to bear on the changing economic environment. Many are structured around internships and international exchanges. France’s business schools offer institution-specific degrees (not national diplomas); 71 of the schools are recognized by the government. According to the Financial Times, seven French business schools are among the top ten in Europe.
France’s schools of art can be divided into two major categories: Écoles supérieures d’art and écoles supérieures d’arts appliqués are prestigious public institutions that offer three- and five-year programs leading to national diplomas at the bachelor and master level, respectively. 20 Schools of architecture also exist and now fall within the harmonized European degree system (based on bachelor, master, and doctorate) and confer advanced degrees in architecture that entitle the holder to practice the professional independently and without supervision.
All students at France’s public institutions, French and foreign alike, are the beneficiaries of a generous amount of “invisible financial aid.” International students enjoy the same low tuition rates as French students at universities and other public institutions
(€160 to €500 per year). The true cost of the education they receive is much higher (€6 000 to €15 000 year), but the difference is paid by the French government. Thus because of its low tuition rates France is one of the least expensive countries in Europe for students.
Additionally, various scholarships are offered by the French Government and regardless of their country of residence or the kind of scholarship sought, candidates should contact the Cultural, Scientific and Technical C-operation Service at the French embassy or consulate where they live well in advance of their departure.
French embassy scholarships are granted to students registered in the regular curriculum of a French higher education institution in order to obtain a diploma granted by that institution and other schemes, such as Eiffel Merit Scholarships, Eiffel Doctorate Merit Fellowships and Joint doctoral programs, are also available. Full details are found at www.egide.asso.fr.