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Summary of our market study
Business school market estimated at over €2 billion
The proliferation of business schools in France is remarkable, with over 300 establishments.
The prestigious Group I schools are increasingly targeting international students. State-approved Group I schools account for the vast majority of these students, with enrolments ranging from 120,000 to 160,000.
The landscape has changed, with public subsidies falling and tuition fees rising, reflecting the need to remain competitive in a global context dominated by privatization.
France's reputation for outstanding business education is widely recognized, and more than 10 schools regularly rank in the top 50 worldwide for MBA programs.
Students from Asia-Oceania account for around a third of the student body at business schools in France.
Private training groups such as Ones Education, Ionis Education and Edu Service Groupe, which bring together a large number of schools, are proving very popular with students.
France's most prestigious business schools
- HEC Paris: An entity with formidable worldwide recognition
- ESSEC Business School: Renowned for its pioneering spirit, ESSEC has always been at the forefront of comprehensive, research-based teaching.
- ESCP Europe: The world's leading business school
- EM Lyon Business School focuses on innovation, interdisciplinary studies and entrepreneurship.
- EDHEC Business School: Located in Nice and Lille
- Audencia Business School: Located in Nantes
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Market definition and overview
The DEPP (Direction de l'Evaluation de la Prospective et de la Performance) and the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation classifybusinessschools into three groups:
- Group I: (76% of students) schools recognized by the State and offering at least 1 diploma approved (can be awarded by the State) by the Ministry of Higher Education;
- Group II: state-recognized schools that do not offer a recognized diploma;
- Group III: schools not recognized by the State.
A distinction is also made between the Grandes Écoles (some thirty establishments) and the others. Finally, schools are distinguished according to their status (public, private or consular) and the type of training they offer: Bachelor's, Master's, MBA, Double Diploma, etc.
The types of training are themselves divided into two categories: initial training (the student follows his or her first course of study from the baccalaureate), and continuing training (the student already has experience of working life, and returns to the school to train again and develop his or her career).
The global business school market is growing, particularly in Asia, where student numbers are increasing exponentially and the reputation of our programs is increasingly recognized. Supply is keeping pace with student demand, as more and more students seek internationally recognized training and qualifications. In this respect, France leads the way, with more than 10 schools in the world's top 50 Masters in Management.
In France, the market is also on the rise, with student numbers up 60% over the past 7 years (from the start of the 2015/2016 academic year to the start of the 2022/2023 academic year). The number of schools has increased by over 100 in 5 years, and tuition fees are rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR/TCAC) of 4.5% per year.
The total French business school market is thus growing at a CAGR of over 13% per year.
The market is emerging from a wave of privatizations, and competition is increasing. Schools are mobilizing ever greater funds to diversify their offerings and defend their prestige. Financial resources are the key to the new competitive world of business schools, which are vying with each other in ingenuity to attract the best students and the best teachers.
The French market is therefore highly concentrated and competitive, but this competition takes place at different levels. The Grandes Écoles position themselves on prestige and international influence, while lesser-known schools target specific teaching segments and practical skills.
economically speaking, for the most prestigious Grandes Ecoles (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, EM LYON, EDHEC...), continuing education is a real windfall, because for equivalent training, professionals are prepared to pay the price to graduate from a top-ranking institution. What's more, it's often the companies that pay the price.
The trend is towards autonomy and ambition. Schools need the means to develop, and cannot indefinitely increase tuition fees. The traditional model is being called into question, and the offer is evolving towards soft skills and international outreach.
1.2 The global business school market and students worldwide
Size of the global higher education market
The global higher education market is estimated by Precedence Research at over *** billion in **** and *** billion in ****. According to the same source, it should grow at an annual rate of **% between **** and ****. This gives us the following forecasts:
World higher education market World, ****-**** Source: ...
1.3 Growth in the French market
The **** edition of the DEPP (***) annual publication: Repères et références statistiques reports on figures for the French education and research system.
The DEPP also reports on the evolution of enrolments (***) and in relation to the evolution of the number of schools.
enrolment trends in business, management and sales ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 French, foreign and scholarship students at business schools
Business schools: a dynamic branch of higher education
The DEPP report presents the share of business school students in the overall higher education landscape in France.
Breakdown of higher education student numbers by study programme France, ****, in Source: ****
The share of students in business schools is *.**% in ****, rising to *% in ****/****. Business ...
2.2 Student profiles: path taken and degree sought
In its information note **.**, published in July, the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation publishes some data on the profile of business school students.
The data concerns only students in Group I schools (***), it remains relevant for approaching the average student.-
Level of education on entry to Group ...
2.3 Student profiles: gender and parent's social class
Relatively egalitarian training in terms of gender
The gender balance in business schools is very even. All *** business, management and sales schools in ****-**** will have ***,*** female students, and ***,*** male students. The proportion of women is "only" **.*% in Group I schools, but rises to **.*% in Group II and **.*% in Group III, ...
3 Market structure
3.1 The French business school landscape
The DEPP classifies business schools into three groups:
Group I: schools recognized by the State and offering at least * diploma approved by the Ministry of Higher Education; Group II: schools recognized by the State but offering no recognized diploma; Group III: schools not recognized by the State.
Distribution of business school ...
3.2 Legal status of business schools and privatization of the sector
An article in Business Cool presents a typology of business school statuses. Three types of status are possible:
Public status (***);
There are actually very few of these in France. Among them isEM Strasbourg. This status is less and less common, as the state is providing less and less funding for schools, ...
3.3 Business school budgets
Since the early ****s, business schools have undergone a major transformation: towards internationalization. The declared aim of the grandes écoles is now clear: to promote their diplomas and their network on a global scale. The creation of accreditations (***) has enabled schools to raise their profile.
However, financing programs, professors, research and ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Types of schools and diplomas
The two types of school in the French landscape
Lhe Grandes Écoles;
These higher education establishments are renowned for being selective, recruiting their students by competitive examination (***). They award a *-year Master's degree to selected students, but can also award bachelor's degrees, selecting students as early as the final year of ...
4.2 Price growth due to international competition and the end of subsidies
The end of subsidies and the need to remain competitive in the face of international competition, whose tuition fees can soar, has led to a rise in tuition fees at French schools in recent years.
In ****, the average cost of business school tuition is €**,***, bringing the cost of a year at ...
4.3 The in-house offer - differentiating factors
In a climate of privatization, diversification of in-house offerings is crucial for business schools. While it is difficult for schools to differentiate themselves on core courses, they do have room for manoeuvre and potential to diversify in other areas. Business schools are competing at every level to differentiate themselves:
establishing new ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Regulatory framework
Associations - law ****
The law of July * **** and the decree of August ** **** are the two fundamental texts on which the operation of associations is based. The site assistant-juridique.fr summarizes their obligations. Article * is reported below:
Article *: An association is an agreement by which two or more persons permanently pool their ...
5.2 Labels and accreditations
To stand out on the international scene, schools can apply for accreditation. These labels are cumulative, and schools aim for triple accreditation. A triple-accredited school is one certified by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA.
Worldwide, some one hundred schools have triple accreditation, including ** in France. [***]
AACSB (***);
This American label was created in ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- HEC Paris
- ESSEC
- ESCP Europe
- EM Lyon
- EDHEC Business School
- Grenoble Ecole de Management
- Audencia
- SKEMA Business School
- Kedge Business School
- NEOMA Business School
- Rennes School of Business
- Montpellier Business School
- Iéseg
- ESSCA
- Galileo Global Éducation System
- EM Normandie
- ESDES
- ESCE (Omnes education)
- ESC Pau
- EM Strasbourg
- Omnes Education- Inseec
- Ionis education
- TBS Education - Toulouse Business School
- Eduservices Groupe
- Excelia group
- Oxytalis
- ESC Clermont (Ecole de Commerce ce Clermont)
List of charts presented in this market study
- Worldwide student population by geographic region
- Global higher education market
- Breakdown of higher education market share
- Evolution of schools and enrolments in business, management and sales schools (excluding BTS, DCG, DSCG)
- Average tuition fees at Grandes Écoles de Commerce and estimated market size
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Latest news
Essca opens a double degree course with Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech - 01/08/2024
- Number of Essca campuses in France and abroad: ten.
How the leader in private higher education mixes face-to-face and distance learning - 06/07/2024
- - Current number of students at Omnes Education (formerly Inseec U): 30,000 students.
- - Number of schools under Omnes Education: 12, including recognized schools such as ECE and Sup de Pub.
- - Number of students targeted in 5 years: Over 40,000 students.
- - Announced investment: 100 million euros over the next five years.
- - Real estate investment: 50 million euros to open new campuses.
- - Investment in digital teaching: 40 million euros.
- - Target of 1,500 to 3,000 students per campus.
- - Percentage of work-study students at Omnes Education: Nearly half of all students.
- - Planned acquisitions: four to six schools in Europe.
- - Objective: To attract 5,000 international students within three years.
Grenoble Ecole de Management moves to Pantin - 06/07/2024
- Year Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) was founded: 1984.
- - Position in Financial Time rankings: eighth French business school.
- - Number of students in Grenoble: 6,000.
- - Number of students entering Pantin this year: 1,200.
- -Enrolment target within three years: double the number of students
Omnes Education sets up in Toulouse - 14/06/2024
- - The Institut Supérieur de Commerce de Toulouse (ISCT) welcomes 600 students.
- - ISCT offers BTS, Bachelor and Master degrees in management, sales, marketing, human resources and digital technology.
- - ISCT relies on a network of 1,200 companies for its apprenticeship training.
- - The employability rate of ISCT graduates is 95%.
- - ISCT employs 15 permanent staff and 100 part-time lecturers.
- - Institut des hautes études économiques et commerciales (Inseec) trains 15,000 students in seven schools in France.
- - Omnes Education plans to bring together 1,500 to 2,000 students on a new campus in Toulouse, in a 3,000 square meter building scheduled for September 2025. - Omnes Education has a total of 40,000 students, including 30,000 in France, in sixteen schools.
- - Omnes Education's sales are set to rise from 234 million euros in 2019 to over 400 million in 2023.
- - The group plans to invest 118 million euros from 2021 to 2025 in its campuses.
- - Omnes Education employs 2,000 staff and 4,000 part-time teachers.
Grandes Ecoles: ESCP seeks to compensate for the dreaded hole in the apprenticeship market - 26/04/2024
- - ESCP's objective is to increase the share of continuing education in its budget from the current 20% to 30% by 2030.
- - ESCP budget: 195 million euros.
- - Cost of new online training offer: 4,850 euros.
- - Target intake for certification, digital and ecology courses: 2,000 candidates per year by 2026.
- - Increase in tuition fees for the first year of the Grande Ecole program from September 2025: 2.7%, or 19,900 euros.
- - Increase in tuition fees for Masters 1 and 2 years, from September 2025: by 3.3% for European students (i.e. 21,900 euros) and by 2.8% for non-Europeans (i.e. 25,500 euros).
In Angers, Essca invites AI into the daily lives of its students - 25/04/2024
** Essca integrates AI into its teaching approach through a conversational agent called Esscabot, developed with Microsoft Azure cloud computing technologies.
** The conversational agent can handle exchanges in 40 languages, adapting its speech to the student's level of understanding and emotional state.
** With campuses in Angers, Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Lyon, Paris, Strasbourg, China, Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg, Essca has 7,000 students and a staff of more than 500 professors and administrative staff.
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the business school market | France
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