You are here: Home › Education in Western Europe 2021 › France

France: Engineering the future of education

Oct 04, 2021


Apart from the appeal of its interesting history, stunning architecture and rich culture, France remains a preferred destination among international students seeking higher education abroad because of the reputation of its universities, the most recognizable of which has to be Sorbonne University in Paris.

The birthplace of The Age of Enlightenment and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, France is very proud of its role in advancing the study of humanities.

In a completely different sphere, the country also gained global admiration for its engineering prowess. It co-built the Concorde, the first supersonic commercial plane, as well as the Train Grand Vitesse or TGV, which broke the long-time speed record held by Japan’s “bullet trains” when it was launched in 1981. And perhaps unknown to many, French inventors also gave us “smart cards” and the camera phone.

France’s reputation for excellent education can be attributed to its 250 or so grandes écoles, which generally specialize in a single field, like engineering, business or public administration. Because admission into these schools is limited to a few hundred people, they are considered prestigious institutions.

Apart from the grandes écoles, France also has numerous state-funded public universities and colleges that have gained much recognition around the world. These schools include so-called Communities of Universities and Institutions (COMUE), which are grouping of universities and institutes of higher learning that can confer degrees to their graduates.

Over the past few years, among the most popular fields of study is engineering and the fastest growing group of international students is Chinese.

“Based on our latest data, we have more than 32,000 international students in our engineering schools. As of this year, China ranks second in the number of international students based on country of origin,” said Jocelyne Brendlé, the President of the International and Development Commission for the Conference of Deans of French Schools of Engineering (CDEFI).

While Brendle pointed out a 25% decline in international student enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Hendrik Lohse, Director of International Affairs of EM Normandie Business School, has seen a rise in interest from Chinese students and predicts a sharp rise once the vaccination program gains momentum in France.

“With the vaccination strategy already rolled out in France, we have seen an upswing in the number of applications for the coming year, with a significant number coming from Chinese students,” Lohse said.

“China is becoming a very important market for us in the future. We are definitely trying to enhance our relationship with China and our partner universities, exploring possibilities in executive education and in granting double degrees,” he added.

Education in Western Europe 2021 was prepared for and originally printed in Forbes China magazine.

PDF of the printed report

latest special Reports:

More Special Reports: more...

Upcoming Reports from




  • Global Media is your partner in reaching a powerful international audience through high-level economic reporting.

    Our ambition is to highlight under-reported developments and opportunities around the world, and allow leaders in these regions and sectors to take their message to the highest global level. We partner with top media to communicate with the world’s most powerful audiences. We specialize in communication and branding initiatives that help our clients effectively get their messages to their existing and potential partners. We achieve results for our clients by introducing them and their initiatives to an audience of elite international business and government leaders.

    Global Media Inc. is an independent media agency with offices in Hong Kong and Canada. GMI has more than a decade of experience in the writing, researching, and production of promotional country reports, with media partners from East Asia to North America. We have teams worldwide that develop country and thematic reports on the latest economic trends and developments.

    We are a media partner of Foreign Affairs,the United States’ most influential publication, published by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

    Nearly a century old, there isn’t a more influential or higher-reaching publication in the United States than Foreign Affairs. The journal is ranked #1 in influence by U.S. opinion leaders in a recent nationwide study conducted by Erdos and Morgan, the premier business-to-business research firm. Their findings place Foreign Affairs ahead of all media, both print and broadcast, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Washington Post.

    Testimonials:

    “We were extremely impressed with how efficient, well-coordinated, responsive and reliable the Global Media Inc. team was. We owe them a lot for their professionalism. We were very pleased with the outcome, and the article was very well-written. We hope to have an opportunity to work with Global Media Inc. again in the near future.� – Japan Airport Terminal Co. Ltd.
    “The Global Media team’s professionalism was excellent. Their team was great and always gave us the right suggestions and information. The product was excellent, and we were very happy to have such a great opportunity working with their excellent team.� – National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies (GRIPS)
    “We were honored to be chosen as one of the good universities in Japan. This article conveyed Seigakuin University’s educational ideals and the message from President Akudo. The advertisement was conspicuous and gave a good impression that Seigakuin nurtured students to contribute to world peace. We really appreciated what Global Media Inc. had did for us.� – Seigakuin University

    Whom we have featured:

    • Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard
    • Australian Foreign Affairs Minister (and former Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd
    • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
    • Qatari Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato’ Sri Mustapa bin Mohamed
    • Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yoshiaki Takaki
    • Taiwanese Foreign Minister Yang Chin-Tien
    • Taiwanese Finance Minister Lee Sush-Der
    • Taiwanese Economic Affairs Minister Shih Yen-Shiang
    • Taiwanese National Science Council Minister Lee Lou-Chuang,
    • Taiwanese Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Yeh Kuang-Shih
    • Taiwanese Political Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Lin Tsong-Ming
    • Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Dr. Dino Patti Djalal
    • Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board Chairman Gita Wirjawan
    • Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III
    • Philippine Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

Join our newsletter

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get the latest news and updates directly to your inbox.