The engineering school market in France

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 2023, there will be 204 private and public engineering schools in France, with a total enrolment of 250,000.

Schools can be distinguished by their status (public, private or consular) and their different entry routes (post-bac, post-prépa 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 bachelor's 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 major American or Chinese universities. As a result, they are grouping together to form conglomerates of schools and universities such as PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres), Université Paris-Saclay and 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.

The government's goal is to train 50,000 engineers a year by the end of the five-year term in 2027. According to the Conférence des Directeurs des Écoles Françaises d'Ingénieurs, 46,500 engineers graduated in 2022. However, projections point to a potential shortfall of 54,000 engineers in the industrial and IT sectors by 2030.