A grande école is a specialized top-level educational institution in France. 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.
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education institution in France. A portion of the student body, admitted via a highly-selective competitive examination process, are French civil servants and are known as normaliens. ENSes also offers master's degrees, and can be compared to "Institutes for Advanced Studies". They constitute the top level of research-training education in the French university system.
The University of Toulouse is a community of universities and establishments (ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the French Revolution in 1793, it was refounded in 1896 as part of the reorganization of higher education. It was finally abolished in 1969, giving birth to the three current universities: Toulouse 1 Capitole University, University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès and Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University. The ComUE in the Toulouse region was known as Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées. On January 1, 2023, the university was renamed as the University of Toulouse.
Instituts d'études politiques, or IEPs, are ten publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse, and since 2014 Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Their vocation is the study and research of contemporary political science. All students at the IEPs study a curriculum that is highly practical and broad-based, focusing on the full range of the social sciences across law, economics, finance, and management. These schools are considered as some of the most selective in France, mainly because they are the place where many political and business leaders are trained.
The grands établissements are French public institutions under ministerial charter within the administrative category referred to as Établissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPCSP).
The Institut d'Études politiques de Lyon also known as Sciences Po Lyon, is a grande école located in Lyon, France. It is one of ten Institutes of Political Studies in France, and was established in 1948 by Charles de Gaulle's provisional government following the model of the École Libre des Sciences Politiques. It is located at the Centre Berthelot within the buildings of a former military health college and operates as an autonomous institution within the University of Lyon. It is the first Institute of Political Studies to have joined the prestigious Conférence des Grandes écoles.
French university associations known as "pôles de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur" were a form of higher-level organization for universities and other institutions established by French law in effect from 2007 to 2013. The 2013 Law on Higher Education and Research (France) discontinued the PRES; these have been largely replaced by the new Communities of Universities and Institutions. The list below indicates the status of those institutions designated as PRES or related associations before the 2013 law took effect. See the list of public universities in France for the current status of these institutions.
Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT) is a French public academic institution dedicated to Higher Education and Research for Innovation in the fields of engineering and digital technology, organized as a Collegiate University. Created in 1996, it was originally known as the "Groupe des écoles des télécommunications", or GET, followed by the "Institut Télécom". The Mines schools, which were placed under the administrative supervision of the Ministry of Industry, joined the Institut in March 2012 when it took on its current name and gained the status of Grand établissement. It combines high academic and scientific legitimacy with a practical proximity to business and a unique positioning in 3 major transformations of the 21st century: Digital Affairs, Energy and Ecology, and Industry. Its training and research for innovation are rolled out in the Mines and Télécom Graduate Schools. The Institut falls under the administrative aegis of the General Council for the Economy, Industry, Energy and Technologies.
In French law, établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel is a formal category of more than one hundred and thirty public higher education institutes in the fields of sciences, culture and professional education. EPSCP have legal, administrative and financial autonomy in the French education system.
IONIS Education Group is a private, for-profit, higher education group in France. It was created in 1980 and by 2023 had more than 35,000 students and 100,000 alumni. There are 29 further education colleges in the group.
Paris Sciences et Lettres University is a public research university based in Paris, France. It was established in 2010 and formally created as a university in 2019. It is a collegiate university with 11 constituent schools, with the oldest founded in 1530. PSL is located in central Paris, with its main sites in the Latin Quarter, at the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève campus, at the Jourdan campus, at Porte Dauphine, and at Carré Richelieu.
Toulouse Tech, also called the Toulouse Institute of Technology, is one of the grandes écoles network in France. Created in 2007, it gathers 16 French grandes écoles, covering engineering science, management, architecture and veterinary, aiming to be of comparable status to the most famous universities of technology around the world.
An Établissement public à caractère administratif is, in France, a public law legal person with a certain administrative and financial autonomy to fulfil a mission of public interest under the control of the State or a local authority.
Haute École Léonard de Vinci is a Catholic institution of higher education of the French Community of Belgium, based on 3 campus. It offers short-type courses (bachelor), long type (master) and specializations in these three sectors:
Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées is the association of universities and higher education institutions (ComUE) for institutions of higher education and research in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées. On January 1, 2023, it was renamed as the University of Toulouse.
COUPERIN is an academic consortium in France. Formed in 1999, it includes more than 250 universities, research organizations, Grandes écoles (schools), COMUE, and others. The consortium negotiates with publishers the prices and conditions of access to scientific publications and other digital resources for the benefit of its members. It promotes open science, particularly with regard to scientific publications, both nationally and internationally. It is headquartered in Paris.
HESTIM Engineering and Business School is a private higher education institution located in the city of Casablanca, Morocco. It was born in 2006 as a school of engineering offering degrees in industrial management. In 2008 it added civil engineering to its academic offer. In 2015-16 the original school was renamed HESTIM Engineering and a new school was created, HESTIM Management, offering degrees in business-related fields. Both independently accredited schools, HESTIM Engineering and HESTIM Management, constitute the HESTIM group.
The Hautes Écoles Sorbonne Arts et Métiers University or HESAM University, located in Paris and in multiple campuses in France, is a center for higher education and research as a group of universities and institutions comprising 11 members and 4 associated institutions.
The Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Hauts-de-France or INSA Hauts-de-France is one of the 210 Grande Ecole d’Ingénieurs, an engineering school, under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research. Situated in Valenciennes, this school is one of the public engineering institutes that make up the INSA's network.
The Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Centre Val de Loire or INSA CVL is one of the 210 Grande Ecole d’Ingénieurs, an engineering school, under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research. Situated in the French province of Centre Val de Loire, this school is one of the public engineering institutes that make up the INSA's network.
