6533b829fe1ef96bd128a9c3

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Recent Evolution of Higher Education in France. Growth and Dilemmas

subject

description

Higher Education in France has undergone deep reaching changes within the last ten years. Enrollment has increased rather fast, much more than the European average (plus 60 versus plus 30 per cent). Universities have diversified their streams, thereby blurring the traditional division between them and the non university sector. The professional content of studies has been reinforced. Social demand explains part of theses changes but the main causal factor is a strongly volontary public policy. The result is a lessening of social and geographic inequalities but also a change in their structure. The changes are also forcing the institutions to adapt their attitudes and their type of governance.