What role should French universities play ?How could this best be achieved ?

Résumé du document

The last ranking of world universities has revealed the French universities lack of competitiveness. It echoes with the debate currently occurring in France concerning the inefficiency of its secondary education. Many students drop out of university without any diploma, or anything recognized on the labour market.

Extraits

[...] In general, every university should try to get into the international ranking criteria. Perhaps more autonomy could be a good way to achieve these aims. It is possible to get a better university, in order to help the students to succeed in their academic and professional life. No one should be left behind, and that is why the American system (academic and financial selection) should not be a model for France. The diversity of the secondary schoolings is an asset that should be preserved, but in every case efforts have to be made to get a more effective and attractive system. [...]

[...] There should be more information about what is expected at the university and what are the contents of the studies, the opportunities after the high school. A good career guidance is necessary too, before, during and after university. Professional studies should be more valued, and there must be links with companies (for work placement for example). As the selective grandes écoles are efficient on some points there should be footbridges with universities. To avoid the fact that many students redirect them after the first year, they should be able to try different subjects and choose to change their course after the first semester. [...]

[...] The last ranking of world universities has revealed the French universities' lack of competitiveness. It echoes with the debate currently occurring in France concerning the inefficiency of its secondary education. Many student drop out of university without any diploma (sometimes because of financial problems), or anything recognized on the labour market. The unemployment rate of the young is around 23% (around 16% in the EU). Some proposals are breaking up with the republican principles (the issue of selection) in order to get more effectiveness: but to know whether it could be more efficient or not, the main goals of the university should be defined. [...]

[...] How could French universities improve? The first problem is financial. The invests are not sufficient comparing to countries like the USA, where universities get their funds from foundations, companies, their research and tuition fees (around 40 000$ per student, or more), but too from the federal State. To ask such a vast amount of money to study is not acceptable in France, specially comparing to the current situation, but perhaps a progressive increase of the tuition fees and a reorganization of the funds of the educational system (maybe less to the high school and the classes préparatoires and more to the university) could be good solutions. [...]