Conférence des Grandes écoles facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Conférence des Grandes écoles

Nickname	CGE
Formation	16 May 1973; 52 years ago (1973-05-16)
Founder	Philippe Olmer
Founded at	Assemblée générale constitutive (consultative general assembly) at: École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (Paris)
Type	Association of Grandes écoles
Legal status	(association law 1901)
Purpose	Advocacy. National and International.
Headquarters	11 rue Carrier-Belleuse
Location	Paris, France
Origins	French student protests of May 1968
Products	Summaries, studies and surveys in higher education for the French national education plan
Services	Accrediting body. Guarantees the quality of educational programs.
Method	Think tank, commissions, working groups.
Fields	Primarily engineering, management, architecture, design, and political studies
Membership	227 Grandes écoles, all recognized by the State, delivering a master's degree or higher.
Official language	French

The Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), which means "Conference of Grandes Écoles" in French, is a special French group started in 1973. It acts like a club for Grandes Écoles, helping them, doing research, and making sure they offer good quality education. A Grande école is a top French school for higher education. These schools are separate from, but often linked to, the main French public university system.

Since 2010, many Grandes Écoles have joined new university groups. These groups come from famous universities and are called 'Grand établissement'. Examples include the PSL University, the Saclay University, the Polytechnic University of Paris, and the Assas University.

Grandes écoles are very selective schools. Students get in through a very tough process. Many people who graduate from these schools get top jobs in France. They are like the Ivy League schools in the United States, the Russel Group in the UK, or the C9 League in China. Getting a degree from a Grande école is often seen as a must-have for important jobs in government, administration, and big companies in France.

Not all Grandes écoles are part of the CGE. To join, a Grande école must be approved for postgraduate studies. They also have to meet strict rules for how they choose students, what they teach, their international connections, their links with businesses, and how they support students.

Checking School Quality: Accreditation
Why Grandes Écoles Are Special
Founding Members
See also
Images for kids

Checking School Quality: Accreditation

The CGE checks and approves nearly 600 different study programs. These programs offer training and research that match what jobs are available in France. The CGE's special labels show that a school's training is high quality. They make sure schools follow key rules like being excellent, helping students find jobs, being open to international students, and having approved training.

The CGE has an Accreditation Commission with 32 experts. This group gives quality labels to programs offered by member schools. The CGE makes sure its member schools stay excellent. They check new schools that want to join. They also review schools when their approval runs out or when their courses change. They even do random checks and visits to schools.

Here are some types of programs approved by the CGE:

Programme Grande École (PGE) - This is a main five-year program. It leads to a high-level diploma, like a Master's degree in Management or Engineering.
Master of Science (MSc) French: Mastère en sciences - This program focuses on a specific international field, like finance or data science. At least half of the classes are taught in English. It leads to a Master's degree.
Specialized Master (MS) French: Mastère spécialisé - This is an advanced program in a very specific area. It leads to a high-level diploma.
BADGE French: Bilan d'aptitude délivré par les grandes écoles - This is a training certificate for people who have finished two years of college or have five years of work experience.
CQC (Certificate of Qualification and Skills) - These are shorter courses and certificates. They teach specific skills needed for certain jobs.

Why Grandes Écoles Are Special

Grandes Écoles are very selective public or private schools. The CGE approves them, and the Ministry of Higher Education in France gives out their degrees. These degrees are recognized all over the world. Most Grandes Écoles focus on business and engineering. But there are also Écoles Normales Supérieures (ENS), political studies schools (IEP), veterinary schools, journalism schools, and other specialized schools.

Even though they cost more than regular public universities in France, Grandes Écoles usually have smaller classes. Many of their programs are taught in English. A key feature of Grandes Écoles is that they offer international internships and study abroad chances. They also have strong connections with the government and big companies.

Out of 250 business schools in France, only 39 are members of the CGE. Many of these CGE Grandes Écoles are among the best business schools in Europe.

Here's how some CGE member business schools rank in Europe:

Financial Times – European Business Schools (CGE members-only)	2019	2020	2021	Female faculty 2021
HEC Paris	1	1	1	30%
Insead, Sorbonne University Alliance	5	3	3	22%
ESSEC Business School, CY Alliance	7	6	8	36%
ESCP Business School, Panthéon-Sorbonne Alliance	14	8	14	38%
EDHEC Business School, Catholic University of Lille	15	14	10	33%
EMLyon Business School	20	20	19	40%
Grenoble Ecole de Management	25	28	36	47%
Audencia	40	45	31	44%
EM Normandie Business School	81	83	86	40%
ESC Clermont Business School	95		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}
ESSCA School of Management	76	70		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}
Excelia Business School	79	63	64	51%
Burgundy School of Business	81	80	82	49%
ICN Business School	69		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}	80	55%
IÉSEG School of Management	64	55	62	46%
Institut Mines-Télécom Business School	75	73	84	48%
ISC Paris	88		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}
Kedge Business School	31	34	40	33%
Montpellier Business School	69	72	75	45%
Neoma Business School	50	39	44	44%
Paris Dauphine University, PSL University	89		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}
Paris School of Business		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}	88		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}
Rennes School of Business	56	68	88	34%
Skema Business School	49		1=Expression error: Unrecognized word "x". }}	48	37%
TBS Education	57	58	58	50%

The Times Higher Education also ranked these Grandes Écoles among the top 20 small universities worldwide (schools with fewer than 5,000 students):

Times Higher Education – top 20 small universities worldwide (CGE members-only)	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
École Polytechnique, Polytechnic University of Paris	4th	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd
École normale supérieure de Lyon, University of Lyon	7th	5th	7th	9th	11th (tied)
Télécom Paris, Saclay University				6th	11th (tied)
École des Ponts ParisTech			9th		7th
École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Saclay University		18th
École normale supérieure (Paris), PSL University	2nd

Many CGE member schools have a long history, some even dating back to the 1700s. The term Grande école itself started in 1794. In the 18th century, Grandes écoles mostly trained government workers and military engineers. They focused on math and science. In the early 1800s, more Grandes écoles were created to support businesses and trade. Some CGE members are among the oldest schools in France that have been open continuously. All these schools were founded to be open to everyone, not just one religious group.

Here are some CGE member schools that are over 200 years old:

CGE member: founded 200+ years ago	Founded as	Year founded	Founding affiliation
École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées, Polytechnic University of Paris	École nationale supérieure du génie maritime	1741	Started to teach Naval engineering. It closed during the French Revolution but reopened in 1793.
École des ponts ParisTech	École nationale des ponts et chaussées	1747	First created to train engineering officials and civil engineers. Now, it focuses on science, engineering, and technology.
École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort		1765	A Grande école for veterinarians. It first taught animal anatomy, shoeing, and surgery.
Arts et Métiers ParisTech	Ecole d'Arts et Métiers	1780	Founded to train military officers and their children. This Grande école now focuses on engineering.
Mines ParisTech, PSL University	École pratique des Mines du Mont-Blanc	1783	An engineering Grande école that has been open since 1794.
École Polytechnique	École centrale des travaux publics	1794	Started during the French Revolution to teach math and science. Napoleon Bonaparte made it a military academy in 1804. It is still overseen by the Ministry of Armed Forces (France), but it is now a public engineering Grande École.
École normale supérieure (ENS Paris)	École normale de l'an III	1794	Created during the French Revolution to train teachers across France in a similar way.
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers		1794	Like École Polytechnique and École Normale Supérieure, this Grande école was created during the French Revolution. It focuses on training and research in science and technology.
École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr		1802	Created by Napoleon Bonaparte to replace an older military school. It was mostly closed during World War II, but French officer training continued elsewhere.
École nationale supérieure des mines de Saint-Étienne	École nationale supérieure des mineurs	1816	An engineering Grande école that has been open since 1816.
Beaux-Arts de Paris	Écoles des beaux-arts	1817	Founded by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture to teach the arts.
ESCP Business School	Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris	1819	Based on the École Polytechnique, it is the world's oldest business and management school that has been open continuously.
École Nationale des Chartes	École des Chartes	1821	This school was created by King Louis XVIII to train archivists and historians. Its roots go back even further to the French Revolution.

Founding Members

Here are some of the schools that helped start the CGE:

École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (École Centrale Paris - ECP)
École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris)
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Ponts - ENPC)
École Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO)
École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (Paris) ( Arts et Métiers ParisTech - ENSAM)
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (Mines ParisTech - ENSM.P.)
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne (MINES Saint-Étienne)
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Nancy (Mines Nancy)
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Rabat (Mines Rabat)
École Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (ENSTA Paris)
École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Télécom Paris - ENST)
École Polytechnique (École Polytechnique - EP or l'X)
École Supérieure d’Electricité (Supélec - ESE)
École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris)
Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (Institut national agronomique Paris Grignon INA-PG)

Images for kids

The official logo of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles.

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Conférence des Grandes écoles facts for kids

Contents

Checking School Quality: Accreditation

Why Grandes Écoles Are Special

Founding Members

See also

Images for kids