The (; French for "Conference of Grandes Écoles"; abbr. CGE) is a French national institution, created in 1973. It mainly acts as an association of Grandes Écoles, providing representation, research and accreditation. A Grande école is a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system.
Since 2010, many of Grandes Écoles have been part of the new collegiate universities, that have emerged from prestigious universities and under the status of 'Grand établissement', such as the PSL University, the Saclay University, the Polytechnic University of Paris or the Assas University.
Grandes écoles are academic institutions that admit students through a competitive process, and a significant proportion of their graduates occupy the highest levels of French society.What are Grandes Ecoles Institutes in France?
Not all Grandes écoles are members of the conference. To be a member, Grandes écoles must be accredited for postgraduate education and apply a strict criteria for: student recruitment and enrollment; instruction and programs; international research and reputation; connections with private industry; and student support.
Accreditation
The CGE provides nearly 600 accredited training courses and a range of training and research in line with the French labor market. Each of the and CGE labels attests to the quality of a complete training process at each school and ensures compliance with these fundamental principles: excellence, professional integration, international openness, training accreditation. As an accreditation body, the CGE created an Accreditation Commission made up of 32 experts, headed by Stéphanie Lavigne, General Manager at TBS Education, to grant the training courses offered by its member schools one of the quality labels of the CGE. The CGE maintains the level of quality and excellence that defines its member schools by investigating requests for first accreditation and when a CGE school's accreditation period expires or when their content and training methods change, and through random checks and on-site audits.
CGE accredited programs: Programme Grande École (PGE) - A flagship, five-year professional training program that ends with a Bac+5 level diploma, such as a Masters in Management, Masters in Engineering, Masters in Veterinary Medicine, etc. Master of Science (MSc) - Mastery of an international, specialized field (such as finance, data science, fluids engineering, etc.) with at least half of all courses taught in English. Program ends with a Bac+5 or a Bac+6 level diploma, such as MSc in: Artificial Intelligence & Business Analytics; European Animal Management; Luxury & Fashion Management. Specialized Master (MS) - An advanced level mastery in a specific field. Program ends with a Bac+6 level diploma, such as MS in: Administration and Public Policy; Biomedical Technology; or Œnology/Wines. BADGE - A training certification for Bac+2 graduates or those with 5 years of professional experience. CQC (Certificate of Qualification and Skills) - Short courses and certification directed at a particular set of professional needs.
Prestige
Grandes Écoles are highly selective public or private institutions accredited by the CGE with degrees are awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education (France) () and recognized worldwide. Most Grandes Écoles are dedicated to business and engineering, but there are also the Écoles Normales Supérieures (ENS), the institutes of political studies (IEP), veterinary schools, journalism schools, and other schools in a variety of specialized areas. Although they are more expensive than public universities in France, Grandes Écoles typically have smaller class sizes and student bodies and many of their programs are taught in English. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the Grandes Écoles.
Out of the 250 business schools in France, only 39 are members, and many CGE Grandes Écoles are among the top ranked business schools in Europe.
Financial Times – European Business Schools(CGE members-only)201920202021Female faculty2021HEC Paris11130%Insead, Sorbonne University Alliance53322%ESSEC Business School, CY Alliance76836%ESCP Business School, Panthéon-Sorbonne Alliance1481438%EDHEC Business School, Catholic University of Lille15141033%EMLyon Business School20201940%Grenoble Ecole de Management25283647%Audencia40453144%EM Normandie Business School81838640%ESC Clermont Business School95ESSCA School of Management7670Excelia Business School79636451%Burgundy School of Business81808249%ICN Business School698055%IÉSEG School of Management64556246%Institut Mines-Télécom Business School75738448%ISC Paris88Kedge Business School31344033%Montpellier Business School69727545%Neoma Business School50394444%Paris Dauphine University, PSL University89Paris School of Business88Rennes School of Business56688834%Skema Business School494837%TBS Education57585850%
Times Higher Education ranked these Grandes Écoles in the top 20 worldwide (small universities: fewer than 5,000 students):
Times Higher Education – top 20small universities worldwide (CGE members-only)20172018201920202021École Polytechnique, Polytechnic University of Paris4th2nd2nd2nd2ndÉcole normale supérieure de Lyon, University of Lyon7th5th7th9th11th (tied)Télécom Paris, Saclay University6th11th (tied)École des Ponts ParisTech9th7thÉcole normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Saclay University18thÉcole normale supérieure (Paris), PSL University2nd
Several CGE members have roots in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and a few are even older than the term Grande école, which dates to 1794.Michel Nusimovici, Les écoles de l'an III, 2010. Grandes écoles in the 18th century focused mostly on training civil servants and military engineers, and the curriculum was primarily mathematics and physical sciences. During the early 19th century, a number of Grandes écoles were established to support industry and commerce. Some CGE members are among the oldest continually operating educational institutions in France. All schools were founded on a non-sectarian basis.
CGE member: founded 200+ years agoFounded asYear foundedFounding affiliationÉcole nationale supérieure de techniques avancées, Polytechnic University of ParisÉcole nationale supérieure du génie maritime1741Established to teach Naval engineering, the school closed at the start of the French Revolution, and re-opened in 1793.École des ponts ParisTechÉcole nationale des ponts et chaussées1747Founded originally to train engineering officials and civil engineers, its focus is on education and research in the field of science, engineering and technology.École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort1765A Grande école for veterinarians that initially focused on animal anatomy, shoeing, therapy and surgery.Arts et Métiers ParisTechEcole d'Arts et Métiers1780Founded to provide in-depth training for military officers and their children, this Grande école focus is on engineering.Mines ParisTech, PSL UniversityÉcole pratique des Mines du Mont-Blanc1783A Grande école of engineering in continual operation since 1794.École PolytechniqueÉcole centrale des travaux publics1794Established during the French Revolution to teach math and science, became a military academy under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. The institution is still supervised by the Ministry of Armed Forces (France), but it now operates as a public engineering Grande École.Arrêté du 14 août 2001 relatif à la formation militaire et à la formation à l'exercice des responsabilités des élèves français de l'École polytechnique prévues à l'article 2 du décret n° 2000-900 du 14 septembre 2000 fixant certaines dispositions d'ordre statutaire applicables aux élèves français de l'École polytechniqueÉcole normale supérieure (ENS Paris)École normale de l'an III1794Established during the French Revolution to provide homogeneous training to teachers in France.Conservatoire national des arts et métiers1794Along with École Polytechnique and the École Normale Supérieure, this Grande école was created during the French Revolution for training and research in science and technology.École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr1802Created by Napoleon Bonaparte to replace the École Royale Militaire. The school was mostly disbanded in 1942 during the time of occupation by Nazi Germany, but French cadet officer training (Cadets de la France Libre) went on in Cherchell (Algeria; then Free French territory) and in the United Kingdom under the command of General Charles de Gaulle .École nationale supérieure des mines de Saint-ÉtienneÉcole nationale supérieure des mineurs1816A Grande école of engineering in continual operation since 1816.Beaux-Arts de ParisÉcoles des beaux-arts1817Founded by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture to teach the arts.ESCP Business SchoolEcole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris1819Modeled after the École Polytechnique, it is the world's oldest continuously operating school of commerce and management.École Nationale des ChartesÉcole des Chartes1821The institute was created by order of King Louis XVIII to train archivists and historians, but its roots go further back to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period.
Founding members
École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (École Centrale Paris - ECP) École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris) École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Ponts - ENPC) École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (Paris) (Arts et Métiers ParisTech - ENSAM) École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (Mines ParisTech - ENSM.P.) École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne (MINES Saint-Étienne) École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Nancy (Mines Nancy) École Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (ENSTA Paris) École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Télécom Paris - ENST) École Polytechnique (École Polytechnique - EP or l'X) École Supérieure d'Electricité (Supélec - ESE) École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris) Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (Institut national agronomique Paris Grignon INA-PG)
See also Commission Nationale de la Certification Professionnelle Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur Conférence des Directeurs des Écoles Françaises d'Ingénieurs Grandes écoles Council of NITSER Education in France
References
External links CGE Official website