Télécom ParisTélécom Paris (also known as ENST or Télécom or École nationale supérieure des télécommunications, also Télécom ParisTech until 2019) is a French public institution for higher education (grande école) and engineering research. Located in Palaiseau, it is also a member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and the Institut Mines-Télécom. In 2021 it was the sixth highest ranked French university in the World University Rankings, and the 7th best small university worldwide.
Grande écoleA grande école (ɡʁɑ̃d ekɔl; great school) is a specialized top level educational institution in France. Grandes écoles are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream French public university system and are dedicated to teaching, research and professional training in single academic fields such as engineering, architecture, business administration, academic research, or public policy and administration.
Education in FranceEducation in France is organized in a highly centralized manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (enseignement primaire), secondary education (enseignement secondaire), and higher education (enseignement supérieur). The main age that a child starts school in France is age two and since 2022, education is obligatory from the age of three. Two year olds do not start primary school, they start preschool.
Conservatoire national des arts et métiersThe Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (English: National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French grande école and grand établissement. It is a member of the Conférence des Grandes écoles, which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in the United Kingdom, the C9 League in China, or the Imperial Universities in Japan. CNAM is one of the founding Schools of the Grande école system, with École polytechnique and Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1794, in the wake of the French Revolution.
Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espaceThe Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO; National Higher French Institute of Aeronautics and Space) is a French grande école of engineering, founded in 1909. It was the world's first dedicated aerospace engineering school and is considered to be the best in Europe in the field. The school delivers a range of science and engineering degree programs. ISAE-SUPAERO is part of University of Toulouse, ISSAT, PEGASUS, GEA, Toulouse Tech, CESAER and Aerospace Valley.
ENSAE ParisENSAE Paris (officially École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique Paris) is a university in France, known as Grandes Ecoles and a member of IP Paris (Institut Polytechnique de Paris). ENSAE Paris is known as the specialization school of École polytechnique for economics, finance, applied mathematics, statistics, and data science. It is one of France's top engineering schools and is directly attached to France's Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) and the French Ministry of Economy and Finance.
KhâgneKhâgne (kaɲ), officially known as classes préparatoires littéraires, is a two-year academic program in the French “post-bac” (≈undergraduate) system, with a specialization in literature and the humanities. It is one of the three main types of Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles (CPGE, informally classe prépa), contrasting with other CPGE majors such as Maths Sup in mathematics and engineering, or Prépa HEC in the business domain. Strictly speaking, the word khâgne refers to the final year of that program.
École des ponts ParisTechÉcole des Ponts ParisTech (originally called École nationale des ponts et chaussées or ENPC, also nicknamed Ponts) is a university-level institution of higher education and research in the field of science, engineering and technology. Founded in 1747 by Daniel-Charles Trudaine, it is one of the oldest and one of the most prestigious French Grandes Écoles. Historically, its primary mission has been to train engineering officials and civil engineers but the school now offers a wide-ranging education including computer science, applied mathematics, civil engineering, mechanics, finance, economics, innovation, urban studies, environment and transport engineering.
École normale supérieureAn école normale supérieure (ekɔl nɔʁmal sypeʁjœʁ) or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education institution in France. A portion of the student body, admitted via a highly-selective competitive examination process, are French civil servants and are known as normaliens. ENSes also offers master's degrees, and can be compared to "Institutes for Advanced Studies". They constitute the top level of research-training education in the French university system.
École polytechniqueÉcole polytechnique, also known as Polytechnique or l'X liks, is a grande école located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mathematician Gaspard Monge during the French Revolution and was militarized under Napoleon I in 1804. It is still supervised by the French Ministry of Armed Forces. Originally located in the Latin Quarter in central Paris, the institution moved to Palaiseau in 1976, in the Paris-Saclay technology cluster.