14 Times Higher Education8 February 2018
Emmanuel Macron’s rapid rise to
France’s presidency was always
likely to raise the international
profile of his alma mater.
But Frédéric Mion (pictured
inset), director of Sciences Po,
where the French president was also
once a visiting lecturer, was sur-
prised to see a 60 per cent increase
in international applications to
the elite Paris institution
for next year.
“We’ve seen increases
of 6 or 7 per cent, even
10 per cent, but never
this kind of increase,”
said Mr Mion, who has
little doubt that the boom
in applications is caused by
the “Macron effect”, which
has led to renewed interest in France
from business leaders too.
“This is a direct result of what
the world is now feeling towards
France – this specific French
moment is great for business and
a bonus for higher education and I
am glad to see Sciences Po was well
positioned for that,” Mr Mion told
Times Higher Education.
Mr Macron (main picture) –
described by his tutors as an “excep-
tional student in all respects”,
despite his “tendency to be too sure
of himself”, according to press
reports – has yet to visit Sciences Posince he was elected in May.
But he has been a frequent visitor
in recent years; as finance minister,
he was guest of honour at the 2015
graduation ceremony, and he
returned three times in 2016,
including for the send-off for a retir-
ing lecturer who he had befriended.
If the 40-year-old French leader
does return towards the end of
his five-year presidency, he
is likely to find that the
elite institution has
changed dramatically.
By 2022, Sciences Po
aims to have moved
into its new Artillerie
campus – a 14,
square metre former
Dominican convent previously
occupied by France’s Ministry of the
Armed Forces. Once combined with
its Rue de l’Université site, it will
create a 22,000 square metre cam-
pus in Paris’ historic 7th arrondisse-
ment, bisected only by the famous
Boulevard Saint-Germain.
“We’ve been given a historic
opportunity to create a proper
urban campus – one that will be
comparable to some of the great
campuses found in New York,
Singapore or Hong Kong,” said
Mr Mion.
Sciences Po will not significantly
increase its numbers from about13,000 students – 8,000 of whom
are in Paris, with the others based
in its network of six regional cam-
puses – but will close 17 sites to
consolidate teaching and research
in just four locations, he explained.
“We’ve chosen to reaffirm our
presence in the city, rather than
think about moving to the out-
skirts,” said Mr Mion – a reference
to the decision by some institutions
to relocate to Paris-Saclay, a
€7.5 billion (£5.9 billion) research
cluster south of Paris. “We realise
the value of having a central
location in a global capital, rather
than being in the suburbs.”
This includes easy access to Paris’
business and political elite, with
many lawyers, diplomats and entre-
preneurs teaching for several hours
a week in addition to their normal
day job, Mr Mion said.
“If we were so far away, they
probably could not play such a role
with us because it would be too
much effort [to reach students],”
he added.French president behind boom in international
applications to Sciences Po. Jack Grove reports
ALAMYGETTYNEWS
Sciences Po has
diverged significantly from other
French higher education institutions
in several other ways.
While Sciences Po is highly selec-
tive – only about one in five under-
graduate applicants was accepted
last year – about 10 per cent of its
intake have, from 2002, been
admitted, not on the basis of the
notoriously toughprépasentrance
exam, but after an interview. This
has enabled Sciences Po to admit
many more students from deprived
areas, with 27 per cent of students
now on scholarships. “This was
controversial when it was
introduced, but it is now part of the
landscape,” said Mr Mion.
Like its sister institution, the
London School of Economics,
which was modelled on Sciences Po
when it was founded in 1895, it is
also highly international, with
about 50 per cent of students
coming from abroad. That
international fee income has further
empowered Sciences Po’s long-held
tradition of academic autonomy,
allowing it to experiment with new
degrees mixing different disciplines,
Mr Mion said.
“Only about 38 per cent of our
income comes from the state, which
is much less than it was for us a few
years ago,” he said, comparing it
with other French universities, which
typically receive 90 to 95 per cent of
their funding from the government.
So, will President Macron seek
to give other universities a bit more
Sciences Po-style freedom to
experiment and also expand their
international student intake?
“[Macron] is looking for ways
to give more freedom to universi-
ties. Since he’s come to office, he’s
been a game changer for many of
us, particularly in the way that
France is viewed,” said Mr Mion,
whose staff, as a result, are
having to sift through many more
applications.
“There are space constraints
so it is difficult to add to our
current population, so it’s a
matter of who we will take,” said
Mr Mion, who added “it’s a nice
problem to have”.
[email protected]‘Macron effect’
sparks student
surge for alma mater