Grandes écoles

The "Grandes écoles" ("Graduate schools", literally in French "Grand Schools" or "Elite Schools") of France are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities system. Unlike French public universities which have an obligation to accept all candidates of the same region who hold a "Baccalauréat" in the same academic field, the selection criteria of "Grandes écoles" rests mainly on competitive written and oral exams, undertaken by students of dedicated preparatory classes. They do not have a large student body (3,000 at the largest establishment; most have a few hundred students each year) and are generally focused on a single subject area, mainly engineering, business or humanities.

Among Grandes écoles, École Polytechnique is considered most prestigious among Engineering Schools, whereas Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris) is considered most prestigious among Business schools.

They have traditionally produced most of France's high ranking civil servants, politicians and executives as well as many scientists and philosophers, and play at the same level as the greatest American universities.

Classification as "Grandes Écoles"

Origins

After the French Revolution

The expression "Grandes écoles" came after the French revolution, in 1794 with the creation of the École Polytechnique by the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot. In fact, the model was probably Mézières' military academy of which Gaspard Monge was an alumnus. It should be noted that some schools included in the category are older than the expression. For example the École des Ponts et Chaussées and the École d'Arts et Métiers were founded during the 18th century. Other prestigious schools such as the Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris), the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (Centrale Paris), the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP-EAP) and the École supérieure d'électricité (Supélec) were established during the 19th century [ [http://www.hec.fr/hec/eng/about/hec_school/history.html HEC - History ] ] .

Since then France has had a unique higher education system, where small and middle size specialized schools are totally cut off the university system yet fully integrated within the national education system. Some fields of study are nearly exclusive to one system, like engineering in the "Grandes écoles", or medicine in "universités".

Today

There is no standard definition nor official list of "Grandes écoles". Legislation involving "Grandes écoles" generally uses the term "Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles". The term "Grandes écoles" is not employed in the Code of Education, with the exception of a quotation in the social statistics. It generally employs the expression of "Écoles supérieures" to indicate higher educational establishments which are not universities.

The "Conférence des Grandes Écoles" (Grandes Écoles Confederation) is a non-profit organization (under the French law 1901). It uses a rather broad definition of the concept of "Grandes écoles", not restricted to the school's selectivity or the prestige of the diploma. The list of the members of CGE does not draw up an official or even an "accepted" list of "Grandes écoles". For example some engineering school members of the CGE cannot deliver state recognized engineering degrees.

Methods of recruitment for the "Grandes écoles"

The methods of recruitment are the main difference between "Grandes écoles" and French "universités". Public universities are forced by law to admit any student with the Baccalauréat and living within the university's area.

The methods of recruitment may be very different from one school to another. Certain schools are reserved for French citizens, while others have been so until recently. Here are the main three scenarios:

Preparatory classes to the "Grandes écoles" (CPGE)

Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE) or "Prépas" literally "Preparatory classes for the Grandes Écoles", sometimes nicknamed the "royal way," because it's the only way to get into the most prestigious schools.

The preparatory classes, either in literature, sciences or management (generally two or three years) is the traditional way to enter the most prestigious "Grandes écoles". Most of them are in state high schools; there are a few "private" preparatory classes but they are expensive. Admission in preparatory classes are based on an academic report.Many students register in more than one class to maximize their chance of admission. Some of these classes are very selective and successful at placing students into the top schools.

The workload is generally very high and in-class competition between students is encouraged. The classes are psychologically stressful, and some students give up before the completion of their studies. The goal of preparatory classes is to prepare the student to match the academic level expected to pass the competitive recruitment examination of the main "Grandes écoles". If the student is not admitted to a Grande École, they are given the option of repeating the last year of preparatory classes and attempting the exam the following year.

Preparatory classes do not give any degrees, nor do universities officially credit preparatory subjects.

There are five main categories of "Prépas":

*Mathématiques Supérieures, Mathematic and Scientific themed preparatory class. These prepare for the engineering schools and teach mathematics, physics, chemistry, and technology. They are broken down in sub-categories according to the emphasis of their dominants teaching.
** 1^st year "Mathématiques Supérieures"; familiarly called Math Sup or "Hypotaupe" ; students are known as 1/2 ("un demi")
** 2^nd year "Mathématiques Spéciales" ; familiarly called Math Spé or "Taupe" ; students are known as "3/2", or "5/2" if they are repeating second year.

There's a story behind those names: the most prestigious of the schools is nicknamed "X", entering a school is known as "integrating" it, thus if you integrate x between 0 and 1, it yields 1/2, between 1 & 2, 3/2 and between 2 & 3, it yields 5/2....

*Lettres humanities preparatory class, exclusively for the Écoles normales supérieures
** 1^st year "Lettres supérieures"; familiarly called "Hypokhâgne"
** 2^nd year "Première supérieure"; familiarly called "Khâgne"

* Prépa Economique et Commerciale mathematics and economics, . They prepare for the competitive entrance exams to the French business schools), and are broken down between Science (mathematics) and Economics tracks.
** 1^st year "Première Année"; students familiarly known as "bizuths"
** 2^nd year "Deuxième Année"; students familiarly known as "carrés" (literally: squared) (2^nd year students who failed the exam and repeat for another year are known as "cubes")

* Prépa Chartes humanities, with a stress on history and languages, known as Prépa Chartes from the name of the school : École Nationale des Chartes. The smallest "prépa" in number of students.
* Prépa Agro, biology, geology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics;

While most students in "Taupes" and "Prépa HEC" manage to get admission to a "Grande École", there are fewer seats offered to "khâgneux" and "chartistes" and most of them will continue their studies within universities.

Recruitment at Baccalauréat level

Some schools are accessible after a competitive entrance exam directly after the Baccalauréat.

Many of these schools remain highly selective and prestigious, with most former students holding high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. Often, students of these schools will go on and enter an administrative school, for which they are better prepared than the former university students.

Others include a two-year preparatory class directly in their program. These years of preparation are highly focused on the school program so students have higher chance to succeed in the admission exam or contest in their school, but really lower their chances to succeed in the contest for other schools.

Parallel admission

In many schools, there is also the possibility of “parallel admission” to "Grandes écoles". Parallel admissions are open to university students or students from other schools. The "Prépas" years are not required to sit the entrance exams, provided that the candidates performed well in their previous studies. This method of recruitment is proving increasingly popular, with many students choosing to go first to university and then enroll in a "Grande école".Some "Grandes écoles" have dual diploma arrangement in which a student can switch establishments in the last year to receive diplomas from both establishments.

Categories

The "Grandes écoles" can be classified into several broad categories:

Écoles Normales Supérieures

These schools train researchers, professors and may also be a starting point for executive careers in the public administration or business. Many French Nobel Prize or Fields Medal laureates come from the "École normale supérieure" in Paris ("Rue d'Ulm"). There are four ENS in total:
* the "École Normale Supérieure" in Paris, nicknamed "Ulm" from its address "rue d'Ulm" (Ulm Street) (sciences and humanities);
* the "École Normale Supérieure de Lyon" in Lyon (sciences);
* the "École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines" in Lyon (humanities).
* the "École Normale Supérieure de Cachan" in Cachan, a suburb of Paris (applied sciences, engineering, social sciences, economics and management, foreign languages)

Their competitive entrance exams are considered to be extremely selective. They recruit mainly from "Taupes", biology "Prépas" and "Khâgnes", even though a small number of their students (less than 10 each year) are recruited separately on the basis of highly selective exams.

Until recently and unlike most of the other "Grandes écoles", the "Écoles normales supérieures" (ENS) did not award any specific diplomas (students who had completed the curriculum they had agreed to with the office of the Dean upon arrival were simply entitled to be known as "ENS Alumni" or "Normaliens"), but they keep encouraging their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions whilst providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma.

The "Normaliens", as the students of the several ENS are known, attain a high level of excellence in the various disciplines in which they are trained. "Normaliens" from France and other European Union countries are considered civil servants in training, and as such paid a monthly salary, in exchange for an agreement to serve France for 10 years, including those of their studies.

"Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs" (Engineering Schools)

Most famous Engineering Schools

There is a broad spectrum of engineering schools, many recruiting after scientific preparatory class. Things may be a bit confusing since many schools have a lengthy official name (often beginning with "École nationale supérieure" or "École supérieure"), a shortened name, an acronym and, for the most famous, a nickname (and often a nickname for their students). Most of them are grouped in leagues, like Centrale and Supélec, ParisTech, Mines, the "Institut TELECOM" (previously "Groupe des écoles des télécommunications, GET"), the "Université de Technologie" (UT) in most public universities in all regions of France, etc. Most of them are also joint graduate schools from several regional universities where they are located, sometimes in association with other international higher education networks. In no particular order:

* the "École centrale Paris" (ECP, or simply "Centrale Paris") – part of Centrale;
* the "École polytechnique" (nicknamed "X") – the military school part of the French Ministry of Defense, and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris" (ENSMP, or the "Mines de Paris") – part of "Mines", and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École nationale des ponts et chaussées" (ENPC, nicknamed the "Ponts") – a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers" (ENSAM, or "Arts et métiers") – formed by the "Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers" (CNAM), and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "Institut des sciences et industries du vivant et de l'environnement" (or "AgroParisTech", nicknamed "Agro") – part of the "Pôle des sciences de la vie et environnementales et technologies de la région de Paris", and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris" (ISPCI) – formed by the city of Paris, and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique" (ENSAE) – formed by the "Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économique" (INSEE), and a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées" (ENSTA) – a member of "ParisTech";
* the "École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications" (ENST, or "TELECOM Paris", previously nicknamed "SupTélécom") – part of "Institut TELECOM", and member of "ParisTech";
* the "École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne" (ENSTB, or "TELECOM Bretagne"), in Brest – formed by the "University of Western Brittany" (UBO) and "Institut TELECOM" – and in Rennes – formed by the "University of Rennes 1", and "Institut TELECOM";
* the "Institut Eurécom" (or just "Eurécom") in Sophia Antipolis – formed now by "Institut TELECOM" (previously by "SupTélécom Paris"), with the "École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne" (EPFL);
* the "École supérieure d'électricité" (ESE, nicknamed "Supélec") in Paris, Gif-sur-Yvette, Rennes, and Metz;
* the "École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace" (nicknamed "Supaéro") in Toulouse;
* the "Institut national des sciences appliquées" (INSA) network representing the largest engineer training group in France and grouping the most famous grandes écoles of applied technology within regional universities: in Lyon, Rennes, Toulouse, Rouen, and Strasbourg.
* the "Institut National des Telecommunications" (INT), which changed name in 2008 and is now known as "TELECOM & Management SudParis", member of "Institut TELECOM"

"Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieur" located in France (non-exhaustive list)

Grandes écoles with multiple specialization domains:
* "Centrale Graduate Schools": "École centrale de Lille", "École centrale de Lyon", "École centrale de Marseille", "École centrale de Nantes";
* the other "Écoles des Mines": the "ENS des Mines de Saint-Étienne", "ENS des Mines de Nancy", the "Mines de Douai", the "Mines de Nantes", the "Mines d'Alès", the "Mines d'Albi";
* the "Écoles Nationales Supérieures d'Ingénieurs" (ENSI), whose denomination encompasses about 40 engineering schools (including some listed below);
** the "École nationale supérieure d'électronique, d'électrotechnique, d'informatique, d'hydraulique, et de télécommunications" (ENSEEIHT, nicknamed "N7"), which is considered the largest ENSI, with more than 400 graduates every year, and one of the schools of the "INP Toulouse";
** the "École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen" ( [http://www.ensicaen.fr ENSI Caen] );
* the "INSA" group of écoles: "INSA Lyon", "INSA Rennes", "INSA Rouen", "INSA Strasbourg", "INSA Toulouse";
* the "Institut polytechnique de Grenoble": includes the "Grenoble Institute of Technology", and the "Grenoble INP" (formerly "INPG") which has six departments ("ENSIMAG", "ENSE3","PHELMA", "ESISAR", "Génie Industriel", "Pagora").

Grandes écoles of physics:
* the "École supérieure d'optique" (nicknamed "SupOptique", also known as "Institut d'Optique");
* the "École nationale supérieure de physique et chimie de Bordeaux" ( [http://www.enscpb.fr/ ENSCPB] );
* the "École nationale supérieure des ingénieurs en arts chimiques et technologiques" (ENSIACET, nicknamed "A7"), also part of the "INP Toulouse";
* the "École supérieure de chimie physique électronique de Lyon" (ESCPE, or "CPE-Lyon");
* the "École nationale supérieure de l'électronique et de ses Applications (ENSEA).

Grandes écoles of information technology and telecommunications:
* the "Institut national des télécommunications", ("Télécom INT");
* the "École supérieure d'ingénieurs en électronique et électrotechnique" (ESIEE).
* the "École nationale supérieure d'électronique, informatique et radiocommunications de Bordeaux" (ENSEIRB).
* the "École Supérieure d'Informatique et Applications de Lorraine" (ESIAL);
* the "École supérieure d'ingénieurs en informatique et génie des télécommunications" (ESIGETEL).
* the "École d'ingénieurs des technologies de l'information et du management" (EFREI).
* the "École Internationale des Sciences du Traitement de l'Information" (EISTI).
* the "École nationale supérieure d'informatique pour l'industrie et l'enterprise" (ENSIIE, previously "IIE");
* the "École Pour l'Informatique et les Techniques Avancées" (EPITA).

Grandes écoles of applied physics and technology or civil and industrial engeering:
* the "Universités de technologie" (UT) group: "Compiègne" (UTC), "Troyes" (UTT); "Belfort-Montbéliard" (UTBM);
* the "École spéciale des travaux publics, du Bâtiment et de l'Industrie" (ESTP, civil engineering);
* the "École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques" (ENSMM);
* the "École nationale supérieure des ingénieurs des études et techniques d'armement" (ENSIETA), training French military engineers;
* the "École nationale de l'aviation civile", civilian air academy, also recruits "Taupins".

Grandes écoles of biology and natural sciences:
* the other "Écoles nationales supérieures d'agronomie" (ENSA, nicknamed "SupAgro");
* the "École nationale supérieure de géologie" (ENSG), whose graduates are "Géoliens";

"Grandes Écoles de Commerce" (Management Schools )

Most French business schools are semi-privately run, often by the regional chambers of commerce.

The most prestigious and selective Management schools are the three "Parisiennes" [ [http://www.etudier-en-france.com/version_francaise/francais/partie_1/ecole_enseignement.php Etudier-en-france.com, le guide des étudiants étrangers ] ] [ [http://www.abelard.net/education.htm Le système scolaire français ] ] [ [http://enseignement.nouvelobs.com/articles/p0016/0016_273.html Actualité, enseignement ] ] , located in the Paris Metropolitan area. There has been talk of merging the three schools in order to give them a higher international visibility. [ [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/045e493c-41a4-11db-b4ab-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=7e5f5c0a-418e-11db-b4ab-0000779e2340.html Financial Times] ] Other schools are found outside Paris, some highly selective, and sometimes compared to the three Parisians (such as EM-Lyon and EDHEC):

"Les Trois Parisiennes"

Located in/near Paris, these Écoles compete to admit the best candidates. The order below reflects the number of admissions from most competitive to slightly less competitive:
* "École des hautes études commerciales" (HEC, n°1 in the Financial Times' Ranking of European Business Schools)
* "École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales" (ESSEC, the Grande École programme is not ranked in Financial Times' Ranking of European Business Schools, but is ranked as n°7 in Wall Street Journal “Top Business Schools recruiters’ MBA Picks”)
* "ESCP-EAP European School of Management" (n°3 in the Financial Times' Ranking of European Business Schools)

The best other schools (according to rankings)

* École de management de Lyon ("EM Lyon")
* École de Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord ("EDHEC")
* Audencia ("Nantes École de Management")
* École Supérieure de Commerce de Toulouse ("ESC-Toulouse")
* Grenoble École de Management ("Grenoble-EM")
* Bordeaux École de Management ("BEM")
* École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen ("ESC-Rouen")
* École Supérieure de Commerce de Reims ("ESC-Reims")
* École supérieure de commerce de Lille ("ESC-Lille")
* Télécom École de Management (ex INT Management)
* Institut supérieur du commerce de Paris ("ISC-Paris")

"Grandes Écoles" without Preparatory Classes

Some schools are accessible after a competitive entrance exam directly after the Baccalauréat. They remain highly selective and extremely prestigious in French society, with most former students holding high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. Often, students of these schools will go on and enter an administrative school, for which they are better prepared than the former university students.

These schools include (non-exhaustive list):
* the "Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris" (IEP). The most famous one, located in Paris, is called "Sciences Po". Other IEPs are found in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Rennes, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Toulouse. They deliver a generalist program centred around political sciences, history, sociology and economics;
* the "École du Louvre", for archaeology, history of art and anthropology;
* the "École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts", best-known as "les Beaux-Arts" (for fine arts);
* the "École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles" (ENSAV), for architecture;
* the "Instituts Nationaux des Sciences Appliquées" (INSA) in Lyon, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg, Toulouse, delivering "diplôme d'ingénieur" degrees in 5 years (including 2 preparatory years, the 3 remaining years are also accessible after selection for the best students graduating a first cycle university diploma, or from institutes of technology);
* the "Institut Catholique des Arts et Métiers" (ICAM) and "École Catholique des Arts et Métiers" (ECAM), offering a generalist program based on mechanics and electronics
* the "École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d'Angers" ("ESSCA"), best French business school without preparatory classes, delivers various master degrees in 5 years.

Administrative Schools

These schools train students for certain civil service and other public-sector positions. However, some students who undertake studies in these schools do end up working in the private sector.All these schools are very selective. As an example, the most selective one is the École nationale du patrimoine, which enrolls about 1.5% of its candidates (who already hold a minimum of a master's degree). The ENA is certainly the most famous one, with a large cohort of its alumni joining the government and many having entered the cabinet. To join ENA or ENM, on top of their initial studies, most students follow a one year dedicated training course to succeed (IEJs - Instituts d'études judiciaires, see French law schools -, IEPs - Instituts d'Études Politiques see Sciences Po - or dedicated programs). Most of these schools are reserved for French citizens.

* "École Nationale d'Administration" ( [http://www.ena.fr/ ENA] ), whose alumni are known as "énarques" and generally take up high-level management positions in government, ministries, political parties and institutions;
* "École Nationale de la Magistrature" ( [http://www.enm.justice.fr/relations_internationales/presentation_anglais2003.htm ENM] ), which trains magistrates;
* "École Nationale des Impôts" ( [http://www.finances.gouv.fr/auvergne/p5_jeunes/ecole_nationale_impots_i.htm ENI] ), which translates as "National Tax School";
* "École Nationale du Patrimoine" ( [http://www.culture.gouv.fr:80/culture/enp.htm ENP] ), which trains curators;
* "École Nationale Supérieure de Police" ( [http://www.ensp.interieur.gouv.fr/ ENSP] ), i.e. national police force school;

Military Officer Academies

While "École Polytechnique", also known as "X" is run by the Ministry of Defence and its French students are reserve officers in training, it is no longer formally denominated as a military academy. A small number of its students do however embrace a military career afterwards. A large proportion of its students end up working for the State's technical administrations.

* The "École Spéciale Militaire de St Cyr" (it used to be located in Saint-Cyr l'École but is now in Coëtquidan in Brittany) is the Army Academy. Nicknamed "Cyr" and whose graduates and students are "Cyrards";
* The "École de l'Air" ("EA") is the Air Force Academy, located in Salon de Provence. Nicknamed "Salon" and whose graduates and students are "Zizis";
* the "École Navale" ("EN"), nicknamed "Navale" and whose graduates and students are "Bordaches";

= Influence in French culture = Some "Grandes écoles" are very prestigious, providing similar status to their graduates in France as Oxbridge in the UK or the Ivy League schools in the U.S, although of course their admission policies have differed. The top rated schools are truly elitist: the students of the top "Grandes écoles" equal to around 1% of French higher education nationwide are accepted and fewer than 5,000 students graduate from them every year. -This dozen of schools, which the French praise for being "généralistes", i.e., interdisciplinary, have traditionally produced most of France's high ranking civil servants, politicians and executives and many scientists and philosophers.

See also

* Education in France
* List of universities in France
* List of public universities in France
* Grands établissements

References

External links

* [http://www.recherche.gouv.fr/organism/ Research and higher education institutions in France]
* [http://www.internationalgraduate.net/grandes.htm Graduate Schools]
* [http://www.cge.asso.fr/cadre_ecole.html La Conférence des Grandes Ecoles] , which is an association of directors of higher educational establishments with selective admission.
* [http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Education.html#ancre104317 "Understanding the Grandes Ecoles"]
* [http://www.veltz.fr "Faut-il sauver les grandes écoles ?"]