Why choose to study in France

France has 77 public comprehensive universities, more than 200 engineering colleges, 150 business administration colleges, 120 public higher art colleges, 22 architecture colleges, and 3,000 other types of professional higher education institutions. The curriculum of these colleges covers all fields: humanities, natural sciences, arts, physical education and all technical courses. In the future, benefiting from the richer professional settings, all majors can find courses taught in English: there are now nearly 1,500 courses taught in English, covering various fields and stages.

With the support of the government, scientific research in France is very active. CNRS is the world’s number one research institution (Nature, 2015). Among the 56 Phil Prize winners around the world, 13 winners are French, which has established France as the second place in the world in mathematics. France is also one of the countries with the largest number of Nobel Prize winners in the world (65 French people have won the Nobel Prize). Another proof of France’s top scientific research level: foreign students account for 42% of doctoral students.

Since its implementation in Europe in 2003, French higher education has adopted the LMD academic system, which is divided into: “Bachelor – (Licence) – Master (Master) – Doctorate (Doctorat)”. After China and France signed an agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas in 2007, the Chinese government recognized all higher education diplomas recognized by the French government. In addition to the LMD, among the French diplomas recognized by this agreement, there are, for example, the prestigious engineering diploma and the diplomas of all elite institutions. The gold content of French diplomas is also recognized internationally. The Financial Times awarded the world’s best MBA to French business schools (INSEAD), and 3 of the world’s 5 best MBAs are French institutions (Financial Times, 2018).

France is one of the countries with the cheapest tuition fees internationally today. The French government covers the vast majority of the actual tuition fees per student (an average of 9,660 euros per student per year). The prices of private schools are determined by the schools themselves, but their price/performance ratio is definitely competitive internationally.

France is the fifth largest host country for international students in the world. France offers students an environment where they can meet their daily needs and enjoy everyday life in France at a fraction of the cost: university cafeterias and apartments, housing allowances, health insurance, and discounts on transport and entertainment (movies, sports, books, museums, student societies, etc.).

Thirty-one French companies are included in the Fortune Global 500 (Fortune 500 2014). French educational institutions attach great importance to the vocational training of students: Therefore, the employment rate of French college students is high (91% for professional undergraduate graduates, 90% for master graduates, 88% for university technical diploma holders, and 88% for business graduates). The employment rate of graduates from schools and engineering schools is 95%). 86% of the returnees from studying abroad in France found a job within 6 months after returning to China (2014 recruitment website information). At the same time, studying in France makes it possible to work in 31 of the top 500 French companies.

Nearly 300 million people around the world speak French, and French is the fifth most spoken language in the world and the second most studied language in the world, after English. French is also the third largest language of commerce and the second largest international information language. The number of French speakers has doubled in the past 25 years, and the number of French speakers will triple in the next 25 years.

Located in the heart of Europe, France is the world’s largest tourist destination, receiving more than 80 million tourists every year. In the QS Best Student Cities 2016 rankings, Paris ranks first in the world.

The number of French companies in the Global Innovation 100 ranks first in Europe (Thomson Reuters 2016). France ranks sixth in the world in the number of patent applications. France ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of new businesses established. The world’s largest business and innovation incubator – Station F – was established in 2017 and will host over a thousand entrepreneurs.

There are more than 40,000 places of interest in France, 44 of which are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. There are more than 8,000 museums and more than 2,000 cinemas all over France. There are nearly 500 cultural festivals throughout the year.