École supérieure de commerce
Encyclopedia
An École Supérieure de Commerce or ESC is a French
business school
at the university
level.
In most instances, such a school is a private Grande École de Commerce (an elite business school) operated by a local chamber of commerce, also abbreviated as
Sup de Co. Grande Écoles de Commerce are traditionally known for producing many, if not most, of the leading French business executives and government officials.
The Grandes Écoles ("graduate schools", literally in French
"grand schools" or "elite schools") of France
are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities
system. Unlike French public universities which have an obligation to accept all candidates of the same region who hold a baccalauréat
, the selection criteria of grandes écoles rests mainly on competitive written and oral exams, usually undertaken by students from dedicated preparatory classes, although this is not always the case. They do not have a large student body (3,000 at the largest establishment; most have a few hundred students each year) and are generally focused on a single subject area, such as business
or engineering
.
Some French business schools do not include the term ESC in the school name e.g. Skema Business School
(School Of Knowledge Economy and Management), ICN Business School, HEC Paris, EM Lyon and Audencia. Some schools use an adapted version of ESC e.g. ESSEC (École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
business school
Business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource...
at the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
level.
In most instances, such a school is a private Grande École de Commerce (an elite business school) operated by a local chamber of commerce, also abbreviated as
Sup de Co. Grande Écoles de Commerce are traditionally known for producing many, if not most, of the leading French business executives and government officials.
The Grandes Écoles ("graduate schools", literally in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
"grand schools" or "elite schools") of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
system. Unlike French public universities which have an obligation to accept all candidates of the same region who hold a baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
, the selection criteria of grandes écoles rests mainly on competitive written and oral exams, usually undertaken by students from dedicated preparatory classes, although this is not always the case. They do not have a large student body (3,000 at the largest establishment; most have a few hundred students each year) and are generally focused on a single subject area, such as business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
or engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
.
Some French business schools do not include the term ESC in the school name e.g. Skema Business School
Skema Business School
SKEMA Business School is a school created by the merger of two French schools, CERAM Business School and Groupe ESC Lille in 2009. The school's name stands for School of Knowledge Economy and Management. The school offers bachelors, masters, MBA, doctoral and executive education programs in China,...
(School Of Knowledge Economy and Management), ICN Business School, HEC Paris, EM Lyon and Audencia. Some schools use an adapted version of ESC e.g. ESSEC (École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales).