Recent developements in Higher
Education in France : towards new
opportunities to collaborate
Patricia Pol
Vice President Université Paris-Est
Bologna expert
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Outline of the presentation
I.
II.
-
The French context : facts and figures
The French reforms
an answer to the European and
international context of competition
III. The French reforms
a new framework to give opportunities
for cooperation policies
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
I. The French context
Facts and figures
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
• Stabilisation of the student population
since 2002
2,25 M students in 2006 ( 1,1M in 1980- 1,7 in
1990, 2,1 in 2000)
- 12% foreign student (8% in 1998)
• Moderate growth of the enrollment rates in
HE but willingness to increase it
- after the « baccalauréat » at 18 : 59%
(success rate of the bac : 70% in 2006)
41% (18-25 years) graduated from HE
35% (25-35 years) / 50% in Canada, 40% US
15% (55-65 years) / 15% Canada, 30% US
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
• Low public investment in HE and
research
(lower than in the secondary sector, under
the European and OECD average)
- Public budget for HE: 15,8 billions euros
Harvard : 12 billions dollars…
- The average public expenditure
/student/year in a Public university :
7210 euros , in the best « engineering
schools » Polytechnique : > 20 000
euros
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
A great diversity of
institutions
Mass and research Universities (86) : 67 % students
No selection at the entry (except for medical and
technological studies-IUT), low fees (200 -300 euros),
high failure rates for the BA level (30%)
4 institutions in the top 100 Shanghaï ranking, 22 in the
top 500
Prepa classes and Grandes écoles : « élite
schools » (< 10%)
High technicial schools : (BTS) 13%
Specialised schools : art, medico-social… 10%
Selection, different levels of fees
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
A significant investment in
international policies
• Mobility
- France is the third or fourth country for incoming
mobile students after the United States, the UK and
Germany : 13% of foreign students in the universities
but only 20% of Europeans
- A significant national grant policy (100 M euros - BGF
(bourses du gouvernement français))
- Second and balanced Erasmus country, a very good
position in Eramus Mundus or in the 7th FP
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Trends V, EUA, May 2007
Trends V, EUA, 2007
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
• The difficult definition and
implementation of international policies
- Compulsory in the « contracts » with the
Ministry : from a « volet international »
to an integration in the whole policiy
- But an unbalanced investment in the
international process
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
II. The French reforms
An answer to the European and
international context of
competition
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
A very strong incentive : the Bologna
process
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
The main steps till 2010
2004
Maastricht
2002
Copenhague
2000
Lisbonne
2005
2005
Europass
Bergen
2003
Berlin
2001
Pragua
1999
Bologna
1998
La Sorbonne
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
2007
London
2009
Leuven
Autonomy is a long process…many
reforms since 40 years
The 1968 act (loi Faure)
Universities become « autonomous » Scientific and
Cultural Public Insitutions
The 1984 act (loi Savary)
Scientific, Cultural and Profesional Public Insitutions
with more autonomy
The LMD reform (2002) : more academic autonomy
The research law (2006) : new facilities to create
consortia (pôles) connecting HE and research
(PRES, RTRA, RTRS), a new evaluation agency
(AERES)
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
The Pecresse act : LRU (August 2007)
« Freedom and responsabilities »
for universities :
A significative reform for the universities : towards
more market
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Still a high commitment
in strong values
Equity « égalité des chances »
No selection at the entry of the university
for the BA and the master level
Low fees (including for international
students)
National degrees
Democratic decision processes
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
More freedom
•
•
With the Ministry : more decentralisation
The increasing role of the « contract policy »
Within the internal decision process
Still democratic (election of the president, the
deans, a more restricted administration
board)
• But more power for the Presidents
- In terms of management
• Human resource, financial management
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
New responsabilities, more
accountability
• Two new missions
-Participate in the European Higher Education and Research
area
- Student guidance and employability
« Orientation active et insertion professionnelle »
• Collect more private resources
Through private foundations for instance, private contracts
• Manage the public funds through a global budget
 Necessity to define a strategic plan, develop a quality
culture and assess the results
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
III. The French reforms
New opportunities to cooperate at a
national, European and international
level
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
The « PRES » : new forms of cooperation
at a national level
• Pôles de recherche et d’enseignement
supérieur
Universities + écoles together to be more lisible
and more attractive by coordinating their
academic and scientific policies
A strong involment of the Regions
From 9…. to 15 in 2008
Université européenne de Bretagne, Université
de Lyon, de Bordeaux, de Marseille, Nancy,
Toulouse, Universud, Paris-Tech, Paris-Est
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
The second phase of the LMD
reform : be more European or
international ?
• More European
- Aiming at a good use of the academic
recognition tools to increase the lisibility
of the curricula
ECTS, student workload, learning
outcomes and competences,
Diploma supplement and the professional
qualification document (RNCP, Répertoire
Helsinki,
May 13th 2008
national des certifications
professionnelles)
• Developing new curricula
In English (see the Campus France
catalogue) to attract more Finnish…!
Specific funds for Joint masters
(Germany, Italy, Tcheque Republic?
Greece…), co-tutelle thesis, European
doctorate schools
Invited professors
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
• Investing more in the participation in
the European programmes through the
PRES and with the Regions
- Life long learning and Erasmus
- 7 th Framework programme
- Europaid (Alfa, Tempus, Edulink…)
 By offering better services to answer
the tenders and manage the contracts
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
• But still more international
- By promoting the Euro- LMD reform abroad
(North and west Africa)
- By exporting more programmes outside
Europe « délocalisation »
- By attracting more students from the
emerging countries
 But a strong willingness to attract more
European at Master and doctorate levels…
Helsinki, May 13th 2008
Conclusion
The European Higher Education area is a
reality : the Bologna process remains very
original in the world
Within this context, the French system has
moved a lot to become more competitive and
more global
But the tradition of cooperation in research as
well as in training programmes should be a
competitive advantage and European
networks become an even stronger challenge
than ever…
Helsinki, May 13th 2008