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Summary of our market study
There are over 200 engineering schools in France.
By 2022, the number of students enrolled in French engineering schools will be close to 250,000.
There are between 40,000 and 50,000 graduates a year, of whom nearly three out of ten are women and one out of seven are foreign students.
The global higher education market is valued at $477.12 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow at a rate of 7.03% to 2030.
The French engineering school landscape is marked by the internationalization of institutes and the importance of research. Active researchers account for 52% of total teaching hours.
Around a hundred start-ups and spin-offs have been created between 2019 and 2021 by the schools, illustrating the role of engineering schools in fostering innovation.
18% of the student body is made up of international students, and 48% of PhD students enrolled in engineering schools come from abroad.
Private engineering schools are on a roll: between 2016 and 2021, they recorded a 37% increase in enrolment, compared with 13% for public schools. There are over 200 engineering schools accredited by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI). Almost 80% of courses accredited by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI) have been awarded the "EUR-ACE" label, a European quality indicator.
French engineering schools play a central role in research: 17,500 doctoral students are supervised by school staff, and a significant proportion of theses defended in the field of exact sciences and their applications are linked to engineering schools.
One in five students comes from abroad, and numerous programs encourage international exchanges.
With the creation of around 440 start-ups and spin-offs between 2019 and 2021, and over 1,700 published patent applications during these years, it's clear that these institutions provide fertile ground for technological advances.
Some major engineering schools
- École Polytechnique, often referred to as l'X, occupies a prestigious place in France and the world
- Mines Paris
- Centrale Supélec
- École des Ponts ParisTech, part of the French Ministry of Ecological Transition
- Télécom Paris
- Les réseaux Centrales ( Lyon, Nates)
- Les Mines (Paris, Nancy, Alès, Saint-Étienne)
- INSA, with schools in Lyon, Toulouse and Strasbourg
- Institut Mines-Télécom, with its wide range of schools
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
An engineering school is a higher education institution that teaches mainly scientific and technological disciplines. They award their students a Bac+5 engineering diploma (conferring a master's degree). Engineering schools in France are accredited by an independent body, the CTI (Commission des titres d'ingénieur). There are both general and specialized schools (e.g. in civil engineering, industrial engineering, aeronautics, chemical engineering, electronics, materials, etc.). In France, there are 204 public and private engineering schools, with a total enrolment of 246,000.
The schools are distinguished by their status (public, private or consular) and their different entry routes (post-bac, post-pépa or by application after a diploma course). There are three types of training:
- initial training: students follow their first course of study from the baccalaureate;
- continuing education: students who already have experience of working life return to school for further training and career development;
- apprenticeships: alternating training between company and school.
The French system is extremely particular and unique in the world. In the United States, for example, engineering programs are integrated into universities, with the option of a Master of Science (MS) or Master of Engineering (Meng) at the end of the degree. The global market is dominated by American and British schools , with institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Oxford and Cambridge. French schools are finding it hard to gain a foothold in international rankings due to their small size compared with the big American or Chinese universities. They are therefore grouping together to form conglomerates of schools and universities such as PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres), Université Paris-Saclay or Institut Polytechnique.
Numerous rankings of French engineering schools are published every year, according to different criteria and weightings. However, a top 5 has been emerging for several years, comprising École Polytechnique, Mines Paris - PSL, CentraleSupélec, École des Ponts ParisTech and Télécom Paris. In addition, there are several networks of engineering schools, including INSA (Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg...), Centrales (Paris, Lyon, Nantes...) and Mines (Alès, Carmaux, Saint-Etienne).
Competition exists at two levels: the best schools position themselves on their reputation, their international influence and their academic output, while the smaller schools position themselves on the specialization of their studies.the trend is towards the internationalization of schools, the development of partnerships with other academic institutions, the recruitment of researchers for academic production, and the ecological transition.
1.2 The United States' prominence in international rankings
Unfortunately, no information is available on the global market for engineering schools, but we can consult the global market for higher education, a broader group including engineering schools, which will give us the main trends. In ****, this market was valued at $***.** billion , and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ...
1.3 A highly competitive engineering school landscape in France
Through their training, engineers are able to respond to the major issues facing modern society. France plans to increase the number of engineers graduating each year in the near future. Indeed, as part of the"green industry" bill, the government has set up a plan to increase the number of engineers ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Number of students enrolled in engineering schools
Throughout Part *, we'll be using a report from the CDEFI (***) on data for ****. Some *** schools submitted their data in the spring, and over *** in the autumn. Of the *** French engineering schools, **% took part in the latest CDEFI campaign, ** percentage points more than in ****.
Percentage of schools responding to the DEFI survey ...
2.2 Origins of engineering school admissions
In ****, the engineering schools welcomed **,*** post-baccalaureate entrants and around **,*** post-baccalaureate +* entrants. Among the specialties of those admitted, **% had chosen mathematics combined with one or more exact sciences. **% had chosen mathematics and physics.
Academic origin of all Bac+* entrants France, ****, in Source: ****
The Baccalauréat average for first-time entrants to *ʳᵉ years of ...
2.3 Graduates and international exposure
In ****, there were **,*** graduates, **% of whom were women and **% foreigners. The number of graduates is up slightly (***), but remains below the target of **,*** mentioned in Part *.*.between **** and ****, the number of graduates rose significantly, by **%.
Among students enrolled in engineering schools, **% are from outside France, representing almost one in five students ...
2.4 The weight of research
Active researchers are responsible for **% of total teaching hours. In addition to teaching, engineering school staff also look after doctoral students. In ****, **,*** doctoral students were supervised by engineering school staff, corresponding to **% of doctoral students in the exact sciences and their applications.
By ****-****, some **,*** research staff were working in the ...
2.5 Engineering schools: a breeding ground for French innovation
Between **** and ****, around *** DEFI schools have announced the creation of more than *** start-ups and spin-offs, in their own name or on behalf of a member of their staff, *** of them in **** alone. This information comes in the context of an initiative launched a few years ago by the MESR to improve ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Overview of the engineering school landscape
France's higher education sector includes *** engineering schools[***]. These institutions are accredited by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (***), which gives them the right to issue the title of "ingénieur diplômé".
There are two main legal statuses for engineering schools:
public schools: these are under the authority of the government, ...
3.2 School networks
Schools are often grouped into networks to facilitate interaction between members. These networks include:
Arts et Métiers ParisTech: école nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers ; ENI: national engineering schools; FESIC: Fédération des établissements d'enseignement supérieur d'intérêt collectif; FGL: Gay-Lussac federation of chemistry schools; GEA: ...
3.3 Geographical distribution of engineering schools
Engineering schools are all located in or around major cities. Most of France's major cities have one or more engineering schools. However, there is a high density of engineering schools in the following areas:
Main locations of engineering schools France, ****, in number of schools Source: ****
As mentioned in the previous sub-section, ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 A wide range of prices depending on school status
Private higher education establishments of general interest(***) are free to set high tuition fees, ranging from *,*** to over **,*** euros per year, while tuition fees for the *** public institutions under the authority of the Ministry of Higher Education are *** euros. The ** schools under the authority of other ministries generally have higher tuition ...
4.2 Increasingly attractive private-sector offerings
As seen in section *.*, private engineering schools are booming. Private schools, like public ones, are sure to have many suitors at their doors due to the high French birth rate between **** and ****[***]. However, this forced increase in enrolment is more profitable for private schools, since each new student represents additional resources ...
4.3 The rise of apprenticeship
Today, **% of engineering schools offer apprenticeships, with CESI being a notable example. However, apprenticeship is not limited to certain institutions, and has spread to all types of engineering school. In general, schools establish partnerships with institutions specializing in sandwich courses. These institutions include the Instituts des Techniques d'Ingénieur de l'Industrie ...
5 Regulations
5. Regulations
The Commission des Titres d'Ingénieurs (***) is responsible for ruling in the first instance on the ability of legally constituted private technical schools to award engineering diplomas, on the basis of their programs and the quality of their teaching. This decision is taken at the request of the schools concerned, and ...
6 Positioning the players
6. Segmentation
- École Polytechnique
- Mines Paris - PSL
- CentraleSupélec
- École des Ponts ParisTech
- Télécom Paris
- Ensta Paris
- École Centrale de Lyon
- Isae-Supaero
- Ensae Paris
- ESPCI Paris - PSL
- CDEFI
List of charts presented in this market study
- Projecting the size of the global higher education market
- Number of engineering graduates per year
- Percentage of schools responding to the DEFI survey out of the total number of schools offering CTI-accredited courses
- Breakdown by registration system
- Breakdown of engineering students by type of school
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