Studying In France – Part 1: Modern Campus In The Heart Of The Most Beautiful City In Europe

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Within the higher education system in France anyone who has obtained the baccalauréat, or secondary school certificate, can directly enroll in a state university. Yet there remains a competitive exam at the end of the first year that provides limited seats for the second year. The final screening exam is named the DALFT (Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française Test) so to be able to pass to the second year, students have to study seriously at the University.

It is stated in the campusfrance last month that each year more than 278,000 international students choose France for their higher education.

Why Should You Study in France?

  • The very high in academic standards and quality of education
  • The Programs of study and degrees meet International Standard
  • The study period is short: Bachelor (8-10 semesters) and Master (1-2 years)
  • Optional Language Selection: French (for Bachelor)/English (for Master)
  • Tuition is very low: 175-200 Euro/year
  • Cost of living is relatively low: 300-500 Euro/month
  • There are work opportunities while in college: part-time on campus (max. 20 hours/week)
  • Internship opportunities in an industry: minimum 2 semester during the study period
  • Work opportunities in the holiday season: full-time (max. 40 Hours/week for 3 months)
  • Student Exchange Program in other European Union countries
  • ± 2000 programs of study options
  • ± 350 Leading State University
  • It is the fourth country with the most foreign students (after the US, UK and Australia)
  • There is an extensive network of alumni of France in the World.
Study in France
Study in France

Since 2003, France has developed a new higher education system called “espace européen de l’enseignement supérieur,” a system that is modern, flexible, encouraging high mobility of students and is integrated into America and European Union countries.

This new system uses ECTS (EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM) D’unité d’enseignement (UE). Higher education in France is also called the “LMD” or (License, Master, Doctorate) where the university stages are divided into three parts: licence/bachelor, master, and doctorate.

The higher education structure/certificate refers to the method of European’s higher education which takes into account the academic semesters (since admission into the college) and semester credits (ECTS) as follows:

  • Licence = 6 semesters = 180 ECTS (High School + 3 years)
  • Master = 10 semesters = 300 ECTS (high school + 5 years)
  • Doctorate = 16 semesters = (High School + 8 years). At this level, ECTS is not counted anymore, because student will directly do research.

The academic year in France is roughly similar to the academic calendar in the majority countries of the northern hemisphere. Fall semester usually begins in late September, followed by the spring semester which begins in early February while the test is generally held at the end of each semester.

Furthermore, there is also a system of elite parallel, a selective institution known as the Grandes Ecoles, which can be referred as graduate school. Grandes Ecoles is not only like public universities which have a very selective entrance examination and semi-private universities which charge a higher fee, it is a higher education (Haut Niveau) held by the Government or the Chambre de Commerce which has to go through a very stringent level of tests. It is more selective and relatively more expensive than university pathways.

Grandes Ecoles is a high school with specific areas such as:

  • Ecoles normales supérieures (ENS) is a Special Education Researchers for 4 yr after Licence/Maitrise,
  • L’ECOLE NATIONAL D’ADMINISTRATION (ENA) is a special school for Officer Candidate Countries.
  • L’ECOLE DES Hautes Etudes EN SCIENCE Sociales (EHESS) is a high level of education for researchers in the social field.

 

 

Useful Links :

Studying in France

Campusfrance

 

 

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