YOUR SCHOLARSHIP IN EUROPE

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Your Scholarship in Europe 2008-2009
France
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT FRANCE
France lies on the western fringe of the European continent. The country’s territory also includes
the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean and several overseas areas and territories.
France shares common borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany in the north and
northeast, Switzerland, Italy, and Monaco in the east, and Spain and Andorra in the south. Its
landmass is washed by the Mediterranean in the southeast and it is open to the Atlantic Ocean
in the west. The country’s capital is Paris. France has a population of 60.4 million. The offi cial
language is French.
HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
The higher education system in France is based on a common European principle (LMD) and
built around the number of years a person can study after fi nishing school (and receiving a
degree called baccalauréat français).
Briefl y, the three higher education degrees require the following qualifi cations: Bachelors degree
(Baccalauréat) + three years of study at an institution of higher learning = Licentiates
degree (Licence, 180 credits ECTS); Bachelors degree + fi ve years of study at an institution of
higher learning = Masters degree (Master, 300 credits ECTS); and Bachelors degree + eight
years of study = Doctors degree (Doctorat, PhD). These three degrees, Licentiate, Masters,
and Doctors, are the basic stages of learning in the French higher education system.
France has 87 state-fi nanced universities, where a wide variety of subjects are taught. Doctorate
studies have traditionally been widely open to foreign researchers; in fact, one in every four
PhD dissertations comes from a foreign doctorate scholar.
Higher schools (Grandes Ecoles) are specifi c French educational institutions on a par with
universities. These educational institutions very carefully select students, since they offer very
high standard education. Educational programmes are tailored to suit the students who want
to receive a basic Masters degree (after fi ve years of study) or intermediate degrees, such as
an international standard Bachelors degree (after three years of training), or a Masters degree
in natural sciences (Master of Science, requiring four or fi ve years of study), or a Specialist
Masters degree (Mastere Specialisé, six years of learning).
Specialized schools, which supplement the French higher education system with professions
such as the arts, fashions, architecture, tourism, and hotel business.
The French education system is distinct, among other things, in that educational institutions
receive solid fi nancial support from the government, which means that French and