Grande écoles
The Grandes Écoles (French pronunciation: [ɡʁɑ̃d.z‿ekɔl], literally in French "Great Schools") of France are higher education establishments that are outside the main framework of the French public university system. The Grandes Écoles are highly selective and prestigious institutions and their graduates often dominate the private and public sectors of French society.
Most Grandes Écoles select students for admission at the postgraduate level, while others select students at the third year of undergraduate level study based chiefly on the student's national ranking in competitive written and oral exams. Usually candidates for the national exams have completed two years of dedicated preparatory classes. Grandes écoles differ from public universities in France, which have a legal obligation to accept in the first year of undergraduate studies all candidates of the region who hold a corresponding baccalauréat (however, universities have the right to select their students at the postgraduate level like the Grandes Écoles). Grande écoles usually do not have large student bodies: most give admission to few hundred students each year; there are 6,000 students at the establishment with the largest student population, Arts et Métiers ParisTech.
Studying in some grande écoles after passing the competitive exams is officially considered as public service; students generally pay low or no fees, and are paid monthly stipends in some institutions, with the exception of business schools which typically charge higher fees. Economically disadvantaged students in grandes écoles may have access to grants and subsidies, just like at a public university.
The phrase 'Grande École' originated in 1794 after the French Revolution, when the National Convention created the École normale supérieure, the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot created the École centrale des travaux publics (later École polytechnique) and the abbot Henri Grégoire created the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
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