Grande école


A grande école is a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. Some grandes écoles are elite education institutes with highly competitive admission requirements, some of whose graduates populate the upper levels of the private and public sectors of French society.
Grandes écoles chiefly admit students based on their national ranking in competitive written and oral exams. While open for anyone to register, candidates for the national exams have almost always completed two or three years of dedicated preparatory classes for admission. Some also admit select graduates of associate or bachelor's degree programs, of 2-year technical curriculums, and even of candidates already working, and international students through exchange programs.
Grandes écoles differ from public universities in France: indeed, universities in France are comprehensive institutions composed of several faculties covering various fields with a large student body. On the other hand, grandes écoles are much smaller in size and recruit their students with more selective processes. Arts et Métiers ParisTech has the largest student population, with 6,000 students.
Many of the grandes écoles are public and therefore costs are limited. Private schools also exist and they have high tuition fees; business schools typically charge higher fees.

Classification as ''grandes école''

Origins

The term grande école originated in 1794 after the French Revolution, when the National Convention created the École normale supérieure, the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot created the École centrale des travaux publics ', and the abbot Henri Grégoire created the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
The model was probably the military academy at Mézières, of which Monge was an alumnus. The system of competitive entry as a means to open up higher education to more candidates based on 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, mine supervisors, bridge and road engineers, and shipbuilding engineers.
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 and the later école du génie de Mézières, 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.
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, Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, L'institut des sciences et industries du vivant et de l'environnement in 1826, and École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures 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 in 1871, Sciences Po Paris in 1872, École nationale supérieure des télécommunications in 1878, Hautes Études Commerciales in 1881, École supérieure d'électricité in 1894, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques 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 system also exists in former French colonies, Switzerland, and Italy. 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. 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.

Today

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 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.

Means of admission to grandes écoles

Admission to grandes écoles is different from that to French universities. To be admitted into most French grandes écoles, most students study in a two-year preparatory program in one of the CPGEs before taking a set of competitive national exams. Different exams are required by groups 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 écoles of choice.

Preparatory classes for grandes écoles (CPGE)

Classes préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles, or prépas, 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 ; 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:

Recruitment at baccalauréat level

Some schools are accessible after a selection based on the grades of the two last years of lycée and/or the baccalaureate results. For example, in engineering, there are the six schools of the INSA network, the three Universités de Technologie, the three schools of the ISEN group, and the thirteen schools of Polytech Group. 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.
The top five of these engineering grandes écoles, according to the French magazine l'Usine nouvelle, are in 2014 UTC, INSA Lyon, ESTACA, UTT, and EPITA.
Most of them simply include the two-year preparatory class in their program while others like INSA Toulouse chose the LMD 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..
The selection process during the first preparatory year is considered less stressful than in a standard first preparatory class. Nevertheless, the selection percentage can be the same as during standard preparatory classes. These schools also recruit people who did not manage to follow the programs of CPGE.

Parallel admission

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. The prépa 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 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.

Categories

Grandes écoles can be classified into following broad categories:

Écoles normales supérieures

These schools train researchers, 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. There are four ENS:
Until recently, unlike most other grandes écoles, écoles normales supérieures 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, and as such are paid a monthly salary in exchange for agreeing to serve France for ten years, including those years spent as students.

Engineering schools (''grandes écoles d'ingénieurs'')

Many engineering schools recruit most of their students who have completed their education at scientific preparatory classes. 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 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 following first four groups train the so-called 'generaliste' engineers:
1. Centrale Graduate Schools of engineering; its students are commonly known as pistons :
2. ParisTech schools of engineering :
3. Institut Mines-Telecom schools of engineering
4. Instituts polytechniques
6. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées network is the largest engineer training group in France and has grandes écoles of applied technology within regional universities: in Lyon, Rennes, Toulouse, Rouen, Strasbourg, and Val-de-Loire.
7. Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs network is an engineer training group:
  • the École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest ;
  • the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Metz ;
  • the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Étienne ;
  • the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tarbes ;
8. Réseau Polytech schools of engineering, is a French network of 13 graduate schools of engineering within France's leading technological universities. All schools in the Group offer Master of Engineering degrees in various specialities:
  • Polytech Clermont-Ferrand
  • Polytech Grenoble
  • Polytech Lille
  • Polytech Lyon
  • Polytech Marseille
  • Polytech Montpellier
  • Polytech Nancy
  • Polytech Nantes
  • Polytech Nice Sophia
  • Polytech Orleans
  • Polytech Paris-UPMC, in the University of Pierre-Marie Curie
  • Polytech Paris-Sud, component of University of Paris-Sud and now also of the big scientific cluster University of Paris-Saclay.
  • Polytech Savoie
  • Polytech Tours
9. Universités de technologie group: Compiègne, Troyes ; Belfort-Montbéliard.
10. Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
The following schools usually train each students for a more specific area in science or engineering:
11. Grandes écoles of Actuarial Sciences, Statistics and Econometrics
  • the Institut de Science Financiere et d'Assurances ;
  • the Institut de Statistiques de l'Université de Paris.
12. Grandes écoles of Chemistry
  • the École supérieure de chimie physique électronique de Lyon ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de chimie de Rennes ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de chimie de Lille ;
  • the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier ;
  • the École européenne de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux de Strasbourg ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de chimie de Clermont-Ferrand.
13. Grandes écoles of Physics
  • the École supérieure de chimie physique électronique de Lyon ;
  • the Institut d'Optique Graduate School ;
  • the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de physique et chimie de Bordeaux ;
  • the École nationale supérieure des ingénieurs en arts chimiques et technologiques, also part of the INP Toulouse;
  • the École nationale supérieure de l'électronique et de ses Applications ;
  • the Institut des sciences de l'ingénieur de Toulon et du Var.
14. Grandes écoles of Information Technology and Telecommunications
  • École Centrale d'Électronique.
  • the :fr:École nationale des sciences géographiques|École nationale des sciences géographiques ;
  • the École supérieure d'informatique, électronique et automatique ;
  • the École pour l'informatique et les techniques avancées ;
  • the École nationale supérieure d'électronique, informatique et radiocommunications de Bordeaux ;
  • the École Supérieure Angevine d'Informatique et de Productique ;
  • the École Supérieure d'Électronique de l'Ouest ;
  • the École supérieure d'ingénieurs en génie électrique ;
  • the École supérieure d'ingénieurs en informatique et génie des télécommunications ;
  • the École catholique des arts et métiers ;
  • the École d'électricité, de production et des méthodes industrielles ;
  • the École d'ingénieurs des technologies de l'information et du management ;
  • the École Internationale des Sciences du Traitement de l'Information ;
  • the École nationale supérieure d'informatique pour l'industrie et l'enterprise ;
  • the Institut supérieur d'électronique de Paris ;
  • the Institut Superieur de l'electronique et du numerique ;
  • the Institut Supérieur d'Informatique, de Modélisation et de leurs Applications ;
  • the Institut des Sciences et Techniques des Yvelines ;
  • Telecom Nancy ;
  • Télécom Saint-Étienne.
15. Grandes écoles of Applied Physics and Technology or Civil and Industrial Engineering
  • the École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Électrotechnique et Électronique, administered by the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance - ESIEE Paris was established in 1904 and is part of the ESIEE network of graduate schools ;
  • the École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Électrotechnique et Électronique d'Amiens ;
  • the École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique, member of the ISAE group with the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace; ESTACA and Ecole de l'Air;
  • the École Supérieure des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile, member of the ISAE group with the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, ENSMA and Ecole de l'Air;
  • the École spéciale des travaux publics, du Bâtiment et de l'Industrie ;
  • the Ecole des ingenieurs de la Ville de Paris ;
  • the Institut Supérieur de Mécanique ;
  • the :fr:École nationale supérieure des sciences appliquées et de technologie de Lannion|École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie ;
  • the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques ;
  • the Institut Français de Mécanique avancée ;
  • the Institut supérieur des matériaux et mécaniques avancées ;
  • the École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées de Bretagne, training French military engineers and civilian engineers ;
  • the École nationale de l'aviation civile, civilian air academy, also recruits Taupins.
16. Grandes écoles of Biology and other Natural Sciences
  • the other Écoles nationales supérieures d'agronomie, Montpellier, Rennes, Toulouse, Nancy, Bordeaux );
  • the École supérieure de biotechnologie Strasbourg ;
  • the École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie, whose graduates are Géoliens;
  • the Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, whose graduates are Eostiens;
  • the Ecole nationale du génie de l'eau et de l'environnement de Strasbourg ;
  • the École de Biologie Industrielle, whose graduates are Ebistes;
  • the École d'ingénieurs de Purpan, formerly École Supérieure d'Agriculture de Purpan ;
  • the École nationale supérieure d'horticulture.
17. Other private engineering schools'
Most French business schools are partly privately run, often by the regional chambers of commerce.
The below list contains French business schools that are officially part of the Conférence des grandes écoles.
Business schools recruiting students just after taking the baccalauréat, most of them are private:
Business schools recruiting students from post-baccalaureat preparatory classes, with higher demanding selection:
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.
These schools train students for civil service and other public-sector positions. Some students in these schools do end up working in the private sector. Most of these schools are reserved for French or EEA citizens only:
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; the majority of its graduates choose to work abroad either in US or UK.

Communication, Journalism & Media schools

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.
Grande école graduates in 2013 represent 10% of the French population graduating from high school 5 years before.
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, but not all of these establishments is reserved only to French citizens, raising questions relating to European mobility and institutional reciprocity.
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.