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You are here: Home Education Higher Education Higher education in France: Your options

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23/11/2011Higher education in France: Your options

Higher education in France: Your options So now that your child has passed the baccalauréat, what comes next? Universities in France, colleges in France, school in Paris, vocational studies, Lycéem Bachelor's and Masters are all viable options.

Anyone who has passed their bac or baccalauréat is legally entitled to an education at one of France’s publicly funded universities; but the public university system is not the most prestigious source of enseignement supérieur in France. The universities, however, do offer an extremely wide range of studies.

Depending on the duration involved, there are two types of higher education:

Shorter technical and vocational studies undertaken in Instituts Universitaires de Technologies (university technology establishments) leading to the DUT: Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie, the universities leading to the DEUST: Diplôme d'Etudes Universitaires Scientifiques et Techniques.

Students take a shorter time to complete their higher education and the study is usually more vocational.


Higher secondary establishments (Lycée which leads to the BTS: Brevet de Technicien Supérieur)
The very best students take two years of studies, prepatory classes or prépas, so they can sit for an entrance exam, concours, into the handful of top schools known collectively as les grandes écoles for engineering, business, and politics or administrative studies.

For entry into the latter, pupils are selected on the basis of their record of achievement at higher secondary level. Students in prépas classes routinely study 60-70 hours per week, many ultimately fail the tests or at least don't perform well enough to get into the school of their choice, and any given concours can only be repeated once.

Upon completion of these studies students sit competitions in schools as a function of the selected specialism: business schools, schools for engineers, humanities and science (écoles normales supérieures). After admission into these schools, the studies themselves generally last three years.

Graduation from a grande école is a ticket to success in France and it is rare to find a top-level French politician or administrator or business leader who is not a product of one of these schools. This is not to say that some state-run schools don't also have excellent reputations.

France’s higher education system has recently been changed to conform with the European Higher Education Area. Using the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), one credit corresponding to the student workload required to successfully complete a course module. These credits can be accumulated and transferred. The curriculum of a programme is organised into six-month periods and teaching units (modules).

School

Licence degree (Bachelor's degree)
- Licence: A Bachelor's degree with academic orientation that allows one to continue with a master's programmes
- Licence professionnelle: A Bachelor's degree with a professional orientation that allows one to give access to the labour market

Master degree (Master's degree)
- Master: The master's programme has either a professional or an academic orientation.  
- Titre d'ingénieur: Qualified master's degree in science and engineering.

Distance higher education
Télé-enseignement universitaire is offered to students who are unable to attend regular courses. Thirty five universities cooperate in this. The Centre national d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED) provides training leading to a large variety of diplomas, to adult education courses and to competitive examinations for civil service positions.

Lifelong higher education
Education permanente is a system of continuing education allowing people with full-time careers to attend evening classes in universities, and thus obtain a degree without interrupting their working schedules. The Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) offers such facilities leading to the award of an Engineering diploma. Catholic universities organize upgrading traineeships and courses leading to diplomas.

Higher education training in industry
Several higher education institutions (public and private ) offer professional training "en alternance" (sandwich courses), consisting in theoretical training and practice periods in business or industry.

Other forms of non-formal higher education
Both private and public institutions have "Universités du Troisième âge". In these universities, senior citizens are offered two options: either to follow university courses with other students or attend seminars and lectures especially devised to improve their life and cultural background. Their advice is also sought when it comes to choosing study topics of common interest. Finally, cycles of physical education, handicraft, cultural visits and outings are also organized.

 

Teodora Todorova/Expatica


Source: www.euroeducation.net/prof/franco.htm


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