The French higher education system is characterised by the coexistence of a number of institutions that share higher education provision. They belong to different legal categories, defined in the Education Code (Book VII). There are

• universities and national polytechnic institutes ;

• schools and institutes outside universities;

• the écoles normales supérieures, French schools abroad and the grands établissements ;

• communities of universities and establishments (COMUE).

Universities

Universities have been public scientific, cultural and professional establishments (E.P.S.C.P.) since the Savary Law of 1984, following on from the Faure Law (1968), which already defined the concept of ‘public scientific and cultural establishment’. Organised since 1984 into training and research units (U.F.R.), universities cover all disciplines and offer three levels of degrees under the LMD system: Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate. 

They offer both general and vocational courses. For the latter, the INSPEs (Institut National du Professeurs et de l'Education), which are part of the universities, prepare students for the Master's degree in Teaching, Education and Training (MEEF) and the competitive exams for careers as schoolteachers, collège and lycée teachers and principal education advisers. They also offer a range of initial and continuing training courses geared towards training and education engineering (teacher training, students with special educational needs, digital education, health promotion, education for sustainable development, early childhood, cultural mediation and teaching, etc.).

Universities also include in-house institutes and schools that offer short, technical courses, such as the Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (IUTs), which are more geared towards professional integration and focus on short vocational courses: Bachelor universitaire de technologie (BUT) or brevets de technicien supérieur (BTS).

Schools and institutes outside universities

These schools and institutes outside universities have a board of directors, assisted by a scientific council and a council for studies and university life. The universities of technology, the national institutes of applied sciences and the écoles centrales (outside Paris), for example, fall into this category.

Ecoles normales supérieures, French schools abroad and major public institutions (grands établissements) 

The grandes écoles are characterised by a highly selective admissions policy and a high level of training and qualifications. The ‘Classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles’ (CPGE) prepare students for admission to the grandes écoles, which include:

• École normale supérieure (ENS): training for research and teaching;

• Engineering schools: technical and scientific training leading to the title of engineer;

• Business and management schools: training in management, finance and marketing;

• Instituts d'études politiques (IEP): specialising in political science and international relations.

There are also establishments whose mission is to carry out traditional tasks of sovereignty, placed under the supervision of various ministries, such as the École Polytechnique and the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, which come under the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

The French schools abroad (the École française d'Athènes, the École française de Rome, the Institut français d'archéologie orientale in Cairo and the Casa de Velásquez in Madrid) are responsible for carrying out basic field research and research training.    

Communities of Universities and Schools (Les communautés d’universités et établissements - COMUE)

Since the ESR law of 2013, higher education establishments have been able to decide to pool their activities and resources by forming ‘University and Establishment Communities’ (COMUE), which replace the former ‘Research and Higher Education Clusters’ (PRES). The aim is to create a dynamic of rapprochement between the different types of establishments (universities, grandes écoles, research bodies) and to offer a more coherent and clearer range of research and training facilities. Of the 22 COMUEs resulting from the 2013 law, only one will still exist in 2024: Normandie Université remains the only ‘classic’ COMUE.