Énarque

École nationale d'administration

Type	Public
Established	1945
Director	Nathalie Loiseau
Administrative staff	229
Undergraduates	0
Postgraduates	533 students
Location	Strasbourg, France
Website	www.ena.fr

The École nationale d'administration (ENA; French pronunciation: ​[ekɔl nasjɔnal dadministʁasjɔ̃]; English: National School of Administration) is a French grande école, created in 1945 by Michel Debré to democratise access to the senior civil service.

The ENA selects and undertakes initial training of senior French officials. It is considered to be one of the most elite French schools, both because of its low acceptance rates and because a large majority of its candidates have already graduated from other elite schools in the country. Thus, within French society, the ENA stands as one of the main pathways to high positions in the public and private sectors.

Originally located in Paris, it has now been almost completely relocated to Strasbourg to emphasise its European character. It is based in the former Commanderie Saint-Jean, though continues to maintain a Paris campus. ENA produces around 80 to 90 graduates every year, known as étudiants-fonctionnaires, "enaos" or "énarques " (IPA: [enaʁk]) for short. In 2002 the Institut international d'administration publique (IIAP) which educated French diplomats under a common structure with the ENA was fused with it. The ENA shares several traditions with the College of Europe, which was established shortly after.

The École Nationale d'Administration was formally established in October 1945 at the decree of Michel Debré as part of his project to reform the recruitment and training of high-ranking officials.

The ENA was designed to democratize access to the higher ranks of the French civil service. Until then, each ministry had its own hiring process and selection standards. The examinations for particular ministries were often extremely specialized, meaning that few candidates possessed the knowledge to pass. In addition, the narrow expertise required meant few officials were capable of serving in a variety of roles.