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, motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type =
Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

''
Grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...
'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation = , affiliations =
CIVICA The Civica Group is an international software business group. It is a privately owned group of companies headquartered in London, UK, and with regional head offices in Australia, Singapore and North America. History Civica was set up throug ...

Sorbonne Paris Cité Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

APSIA The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) is a non-profit educational organization of graduate schools of international affairs, with 40 members and 26 affiliates around the world. Starting as a network of America ...

COUPERIN
CGE , academic_affiliation = , endowment = 127.2 million (2018) , budget = €197 million (2018) , chairperson = Laurence Bertrand Dorléac ( FNSP) , president =
Mathias Vicherat Mathias Vicherat (born 26 May 1978) is a French civil servant and director of Sciences Po since 22 November 2021. Early life He was born in 1978 in Seine-Saint-Denis. His father worked for Fnac. Professional career In September 2010, Vicher ...
, provost =
Sergei Guriev Sergey Maratovich Guriyev (russian: Серге́й Мара́тович Гури́ев, os, Гуриаты Мараты фырт Сергей / Gwyriaty Maraty fyrt Sergej) is a Russian economist, who is Provost and a professor of economics at t ...
, academic_staff = 270 , total_staff = , students = 14,000 , undergrad = 4,000 , postgrad = 10,000 , doctoral = 350 , other_students = , address = , city =
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
, Nancy,
Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earl ...
,
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
,
Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...
,
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, ver ...
and
Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...
, country = France , postalcode = , coordinates = , campus_type = Urban , campus_size = , language =
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and English (official, university-wide)
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
(working language at the Nancy campus)
Spanish (working language at the Poitiers campus) , free_label = Printing house , free = Sciences Po Press , colours = Red White , sports_nickname = , sporting_affiliations = , mascot =
The lion and the fox The Fox and the LionAvailable on Google Bookspages 230-1/ref> is one of Aesop's Fables and represents a comedy of manners. It is number 10 in the Perry Index. The fables The fable was briefly told in Classical antiquity, Classical Greek sources: ...
, sports_free_label = , sports_free = , website = , logo = Logo Sciences Po.svg , logo_size = , logo_upright = , logo_alt = , embedded = , pushpin_map = , pushpin_label_position = , map_size = , pushpin_map_caption = , footnotes = The Paris Institute of Political Studies (french: Institut d'études politiques de Paris, commonly known as Sciences Po or ''Sciences Po Paris'') is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
, with the status of ''
grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...
'' and '' grand établissement'', located in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, with further campuses in
Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earl ...
,
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, ver ...
,
Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...
, Nancy,
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
and
Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...
. Sciences Po offers courses and conducting research in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
,
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...
, law and
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
. The institute was established in 1872 by Émile Boutmy as the ''École libre des sciences politiques'', a private and independent institution of higher education, founded in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War with the stated objective of renewing the training of the political elites and thereby contributing to ameliorating the nation's fortunes after its defeat of 1870. Boutmy aimed at modernising education for French civil servants, by offering additional teachings in political sciences, a relatively new field of study at the time. Students would follow traditional courses as a primary education, usually the classics or the law at the Sorbonne. In 1945, the school was nationalised and re-established as a public institution, after criticism of the attitude of its staff during the Second World War and subsequent calls for its closure. After a reform in 1985, Sciences Po began offering full degrees in the social sciences as primary education for its students. Since the mid-1990s, Sciences Po’'s curriculum has been substantially reformed beyond in social sciences beyond political sciences. As of 2021, 80% of Sciences Po graduates choose careers in the private sector. The institute is a member of the
Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) is a non-profit educational organization of graduate schools of international affairs, with 40 members and 26 affiliates around the world. Starting as a network of Ameri ...
(APSIA) and ''CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences''.


History


1872 to 1945: Free School of Political Sciences

Sciences Po was established in February 1872 as the ''École Libre des Sciences Politiques'' (ELSP) by a group of French intellectuals, politicians and businessmen led by Émile Boutmy, and including Hippolyte Taine,
Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote infl ...
, Albert Sorel and Paul Leroy Beaulieu. The creation of the school was in response to widespread fears that the inadequacy of the French political and diplomatic corps would further diminish the country's international stature, as France grappled with a series of crises, including the defeat in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, the demise of
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...
, and the upheaval and massacre resulting from
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...
. The founders of the school sought to reform the training of French politicians by establishing a new "breeding ground where nearly all the major, non-technical state commissioners were trained.". His innovative intellectual axis was to teach contemporary history whereas political elites had been taught ancient humanities only for centuries, which they could still learn in universities at the same time. ELSP acquired a major role in France's political system. From 1901 to 1935, 92.5% of entrants to the
Grands corps de l'État The ''grands corps de l'État'' (English: Grand Corps of the French State) are a feature of the French state as envisaged in the reforms of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Some of these ''grands corps'' date back to the reign of Louis XV, in the 18th centur ...
, the most powerful and prestigious administrative bodies in the
French Civil Service The French Civil Service (french: Fonction publique française) is the set of civil servants (''fonctionnaires'') working for the Government of France. Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; howe ...
, had studied there (this figure includes people who took civil service examination preparatory classes at Sciences Po but did not earn a degree and, in general, students were taking class there on top of earning a degree in the
University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...
, in particular the Law Faculty). Other countries created similar schools in the following century. In 1875, the in Italy (now part of the
University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first univer ...
), at the end of the century, the ''École libre des sciences Politiques et Sociales'' in Belgium (not existing any more), the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik in Germany, the Columbia School of Political Science (now merged into the
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (also known as GSAS) is the graduate school of Columbia University. Founded in 1880, GSAS is responsible for most of Columbia's graduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural s ...
), the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...
in the United Kingdom, and, after WW1, for the
School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at bo ...
from
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in the United States. The connection between Sciences Po and French institutions meant that the school also played a key role in the apparatus of the French Empires. In 1886, the university established a colonial school with the goal of training students to take on professions in the colonial administration in a way that “propagates ..a more scientific and international colonialism”. Many professors and members of the ELSP administration, such as Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, chair in colonial affairs at ELSP,
Joseph Chailley-Bert Joseph Chailley, also known as Joseph Chailley-Bert (1854–1928) was a French politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Vendée from 1906 to 1914. He was the founder and chairman of the French Colonial Union The French ...
, Jules Cambon,
Charles Jonnart Charles Célestin Auguste Jonnart (27 December 1857 – 30 December 1927) was a French politician. Early years Born into a bourgeois family in Fléchin, Pas-de-Calais, Charles Jonnart was educated at Saint-Omer, then in Paris. Interested in th ...
, Auguste Louis Albéric d’Arenberg and Ernest Roume, were also closely linked to or worked directly with the colonial government. The colonial branch of ELSP closed in 1893 after a state-sponsored colonial school was created in 1889; however positions in the administrations of French colonies and protectorates continued to accept graduates from the ELSP.


1945 to the 1990s: Institute of Political Sciences of Paris


1945: Re-foundation

Sciences Po underwent significant reforms in the aftermath
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in 1945. At France's liberation from Nazi occupation, the public servants were accused of collaborating with the
Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
and
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Sciences Po was then directly concerned by the draining goal of the
National Council of the Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...
. Communist politicians including Georges Cogniot accused the school to be the "home of collaboration" with Nazi Germany and proposed abolishing the ELSP entirely and founding a new state-run administration college on its premises. To fight against this, Roger Seydoux, Jacques Chapsal and André Siegfried, from the school, excluded the most compromised (with Vichy and Nazi Germany) members of the school's staff, defended the school against accusation of collaboration and built up a communication campaign to save the school. The choice would be made by France's Provisional Government, under Charles de Gaulle. Eight of its thirteen ministers were alumni from the school. They made the future of the school escape from the Parliament's control to end up in their own hands.
Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1 ...
, alumnus, Jules Jeanneney, alumnus whose son just came out of the school, and Roger Grégoire, alumnus, decided that the school would be preserved but under a new structure. Two separate legal entities were created: the Institut d'études politiques (IEP) and the ''Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques'' ( en, National Foundation of Political Science) or FNSP. Both entities were tasked by the French government to ensure "the progress and the spread, both within and outside France, of political science, economics, and sociology". FNSP, a private foundation that receives generous subsidies from the government, manages the ''IEP de Paris'', owns its buildings and libraries, and determines its budget. The two entities work together in lockstep, however, as the director of the school is, by tradition, also the administrator of FNSP. This institutional arrangement gives Sciences Po a unique status, as the school draws most of its resources through substantial government subsidies to FNSP, but does not subject it to many government interventions and regulations, giving it a much higher level of autonomy compared to other French universities and schools. The epithet ''Sciences Po'' is applied to both entities, which inherited the reputation previously vested in ''ELSP''."Le statut juridique de Sciences Po: la dualité FNSP et IEP de Paris"
Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po
'
The public-private nature of Sciences Po, Paris, also distinguishes it from a network of institutes of political studies throughout the country that were inspired by its curriculum, namely in Strasbourg,
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
, Aix,
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
,
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
,
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...
,
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...
and
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...
. They are not to be confused with the seven campuses of Sciences Po in France. The government also established in 1945 the
École Nationale d'Administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...
(ENA), an elite postgraduate school for training government officials. From then on, the Grands Corps de l'Etat were obliged to recruit new entrants from ENA. Sciences Po became the school of choice for those hoping to enter the ENA, and so retained its dominant place in educating high-ranking officials.


1945 to the 1990s

Between 1952 and 1969, 77.5% of the ENA's graduate student intake were Sciences Po alumni. ''FNSP'' received a significant donations from the
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Ca ...
. ''FNSP'' published periodicals such as ''la Revue française de science politique'', ''le Bulletin analytique de documentation'', ''la Chronologie politique africaine'', and the ''Cahiers de la Fondation'' as well as its seven research centres and main publishing house, ''Presses de Sciences Po''.


1990s to the 2020s: The new Sciences Po

Sciences Po was substantially reformed from the mid-1990s so as to diversify its focus beyond political science and beyond France, mainly under the influence of Olivier Duhamel, who formally had different roles during until his resignation in 2021. Sciences Po was also hit by a number of crises and controversies during this period.


1990s to 2012: Diversification and internationalization

After the directorship of Alain Lancelot (1987-1997), the latter choose Olivier Duhamel to sponsor the candidacy of
Richard Descoings Richard Descoings (; June 23, 1958 – April 3, 2012) was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' or Sciences Po Paris), and as su ...
, who became the director of Sciences Po with Duhamel as special advisor. Under the directorship of Richard Descoings (1997–2012), the school incorporated courses in various branches of the social sciences on top of political science, such as law, economics, history, and sociology. In addition, the school began requiring all its undergraduate students to spend a year abroad, and introduced a multilingual curriculum in French, English, and other languages. Sciences Po also began to expand outside Paris, establishing regional campuses throughout France. During this period, Sciences Po also implemented reforms in its admissions process. Previously, Sciences Po recruited its students exclusively on the basis of a competitive examination. This system was seen to favor students from prestigious preparatory high schools, largely attended by the children of the French political elite. In 2001, Sciences Po founded the Equal Opportunity Program, widening its admissions policy."Sciences Po ― an elite institution's introspection on its power, position and worth in French society" ''NYU Department of Journalism'', 9 September 2003. This program enables the institution to recruit high-potential students at partner high schools in more disadvantaged parts of France who, due to a social, academic, and financial constraints, would not otherwise have been able to attend Sciences Po. From 2001 to 2011, the proportion of scholarship students at Sciences Po went from 6 to 27 percent with around 30% of all students at Sciences Po currently receiving some form of scholarship. The reforms Descoings spearheaded were at times controversial, however, and his leadership style came under heavy criticism for "reigning as almighty king" and to implement a "management of fear". A further report by the French Court of Audit in 2012 severely criticized Sciences Po under the Descoings leadership for its opaque, and possibly illegal, financial management, notably with regard to management salaries, in particular to himself.


2013 to 2021: Expansion

After the sudden death of Richard Descoing, Frédéric Mion, a graduate of Sciences Po, ENA and École Normale Supérieure and former secretary general of
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow unde ...
, was appointed director of Sciences Po on 1 March 2013. It was criticized as a choice of Olivier Duhamel, even though the two other candidates were said to have a much stronger applications than the 9 pages given by Mion in his last minute candidacy with the sponsorship of Duhamel. Louis Vogel, former front-runner candidate who retracted his candidacy to protest against the governance process in Sciences Po, stated that an institution that want to have a place in the academic national and international environment cannot achieve such a thing without having an academic ("''universitaire''", a researcher and lecturer coming from the ''universités'' as opposed to the ''grandes écoles'') at its head.Sciences Po: "J'aurai beau tout faire, je ne serai jamais énarque ou normalien", explique Louis Vogel
/ref> Mion's intention to pursue Sciences Po's development as a "selective university of international standing" is detailed in the policy paper "Sciences Po 2022", published in the spring of 2014. The restructuring of Master's study into graduate schools continued with the creation of the School of Public Affairs and the Urban School in 2015 and the School of Management and Innovation in 2016. In early 2016, Sciences Po updated its governance structure, adopting new statutes for its two constituent bodies: the ''Fondation nationale des sciences politiques'' (FNSP) and the ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' (IEP). In late 2016, Sciences Po acquired a new site, the Hôtel de l'Artillerie in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, which it intends to make it a site of "educational renewal". In April 2018, Sciences Po students blocked the main entrance to the school in protest against Macron's education reforms which gives ''universités'' the power to set admission criteria and rank applicants (a power that Sciences Po has).


Since 2021: Crisis of reputation and governance

In 2021, Sciences Po was hit by the
Duhamel scandal The Duhamel scandal is a 2021 scandal that involved a leading Parisian social and political sciences university, Sciences Po. The scandal originated from accusations in a book written by Camille Kouchner, ''La Familia Grande''. In that book, Cami ...
, mainly put forward by the best-seller book ''La Familia Grande'' and newspaper articles from ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' and ''
Nouvel Obs (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...
'', a sexual violence scandal one and a
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession. Examples include (see List of wars of succession): *Multiple periods du ...
. Olivier Duhamel, director of the National Foundation of Sciences Po, Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences Po, and other members of the board of these institutions resigned. It led to appeals to a reform of the governance of Sciences Po. Instead, Sciences Po faced "ultimate attempts of a generation to maintain control of the designation of a successor for Duhamel".Sciences Po s’enlise dans la crise de succession
/ref> This process further tarnished the reputation of Sciences Po.Sciences Po: une historienne de l’art pour remplacer Duhamel
/ref> ''
L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...
'' later published a significant investigation on the transformations of Sciences Po since the 1990s, called "Sciences Po goes off the rails".Sciences-Po Paris : les foisonnants mais timides rapports sur la déontologie et les violences sexistes et sexuelles
/ref> Bénédicte Durand, interim administrator of Sciences Po, published in ''L’Express'' an op-ed stating that Sciences Po is facing "one of the most painful crisis of (the) history" of Sciences Po. She criticized the fact that the school has become the "target" of a "witch hunt" and is held responsible for "all the woes of the society" without "intellectual honesty", and told "hate-mongers" that Sciences Po will survive this crisis in spite of the "threats". The institute later published reports on deontology and sexual violence that were called by ''Nouvel Obs'' "abundant but shy". On 22 November 2021
Mathias Vicherat Mathias Vicherat (born 26 May 1978) is a French civil servant and director of Sciences Po since 22 November 2021. Early life He was born in 1978 in Seine-Saint-Denis. His father worked for Fnac. Professional career In September 2010, Vicher ...
, former CEO of
Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...
, former spokesman of the French National Railways Network and former deputy cabinet director of the Mayor in Paris, assumed office as the new director of Sciences Po. This appointment has been criticized, because Vicherat does not have an academic background and would have been chosen as the former classmate and friend of the president. Vicherat pledged to name someone with an academic experience as number 2 to compensate his background. He wants to reinforce the private sector outcomes of the Sciences Po diploma. In 2022, the book "Une jeunesse engagée" was published, describing the evolution of Sciences Po student body over the decades. In 2022, 70% of the students considered themeselves as part of an elite, whereas only 53% did in 2002. 55% of the students voted for left-wing politician
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2017 to 2022. He led the ''La France Insoumise'' group in the Natio ...
and 71% of the students consider themselves as left-wing, whereas 57% did in 2002. The book also described a place where knowledge and study have little place and where students focus on networking and the dismay of students and lecturers in front of this new reality. Further controversies occurred, including one around the cancellation of two lectures by Peggy Sastre and Leonardo Orlando around the
theory of evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation te ...
of
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
and gender studies., with the direct involvement of Vicherat.


Campuses

Sciences Po has seven campuses in France, with each specialising in different regions of the globe. Every May, at the end of the academic year, all seven campuses come together for the inter-campus Collegiades de SciencesPo tournament, also known as the MiniCrit. At the tournament, students represent each campus and compete against one another in arts and athletic competitions. Different events include athletic games such as volleyball and football, as well as artistic competitions such as music and dance.


Paris campus

The Paris campus is spread across several buildings concentrated around the Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 6th and 7th ''arrondissements''. The historic centre of Sciences Po at 27 rue Saint-Guillaume houses the head office and central library since 1879. It is also home to Sciences Po's two largest teaching halls, the Amphitheatres Émile Boutmy and Jacques Chapsal. Other buildings include: * 117, boulevard Saint-Germain: School of Journalism * 199, boulevard Saint-Germain: Doctoral School * 174 and 224, boulevard Saint-Germain: offices and classrooms * 13, rue de l'Université / The René Rémond building: Law School and administrative offices * 8, rue Jean-Sébastien-Bach: Urban School * 28, rue des Saints-Pères: Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) * 56, rue des Saints-Pères: Language Lab, audiovisual service and a cartography workshop. * 56, rue Jacob: Research Center for History (''Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po'') and International Relations (''Centre d'études et de recherches internationales'') The Paris campus enrolls about 3,000 undergraduate students, almost a third of whom are international exchange students. Sciences Po purchased in 2016 the Hôtel de l’Artillerie, a 17th-century former monastery of 14,000 m2 located 200 meters from its campus on rue Saint-Guillaume, from the French Ministry of Defense and will refurbish the building for a total cost of around 200 million euros in total (estimation). The new facility will be for the graduate programs and will open in 2022. It will provide
social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...
for 50 to 100 students with need-based aid from the State.


Dijon campus

Located in the region of
Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...
in a 19th-century building, the
Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earl ...
campus was created in 2001.


Le Havre campus

Located on the coast of
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
,
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, ver ...
has hosted the undergraduate Euro-Asian campus since 2007. The campus has 3 majors, including economics and society, politics and government and political humanities, students primarily choose to spend their third year abroad in an Asian country. Furthermore, Le Havre is home to several Dual Degree programs, and welcomes international students from over thirty countries from all around the world.


Menton campus

Established in the
French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...
city of
Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...
in 2005, the campus is located in an entirely renovated 19th-century building overlooking the Mediterranean. According to the Sciences Po brochure, Menton is home to the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean focus branch of Sciences Po and welcomes 300 students each year. Students study in one of two tracks (anglophone/francophone) and may take one of three core Oriental languages (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
,
Farsi Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and u ...
, or
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
) and an additional concentration language ( Italian or
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
) if they are fluent in their core language. The third mandatory year abroad is spent in the Middle East or elsewhere.


Nancy campus

Established in the region of
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...
in 2000, the Nancy campus is located in an 18th century heritage site, the Hôtel des Missions Royales. The curriculum is taught in French, English and German, as it focuses on the European Union and French-German relations.


Poitiers campus

Opened in 2010, the campus is located in the heart of the historic city of
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
in the Hôtel Chaboureau, a renovated building dating from the 15th century. The academic programme is focused on
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
and the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
.


Reims campus

The
Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...
campus opened in September 2010. It is housed in the 17th century ''College des Jesuits''. Despite being the most recent campus, it is the largest of the regional campuses of Sciences Po, with over 1,600 undergraduate.


Organisation


Governance

Sciences Po operates under a dual governance model composed of two entities: the ''Fondation nationale des sciences politiques'' (FNSP), a private non-profit foundation, and the ''Institut d’études politiques de Paris'' or Paris Institute of Political Studies, a public higher education institution. These two bodies constitute Sciences Po, which is the official term used to designate them collectively. The FNSP is responsible for the strategic direction and administrative and financial management of Sciences Po. It is administered by a board of directors. The role of the Paris Institute of Political Studies is to ensure teaching, research and library services, like all international research universities. Its governing bodies consist of the Board of Directors, the Student Life and Education Committee and the Academic Board. The Executive Committee is the institution’s operational steering committee. It brings together the directors of Sciences Po’s various divisions and offices under the authority of the President of Sciences Po. The Executive Committee implements the strategic direction and makes operational decisions on running and managing the institution.


Finances

Sciences Po's resources have grown threefold over the past 15 years, from €55 million in 2000 to €128 million in 2010 to €197 million in 2018. The French government’s support for the institution, in the form of structural public subsidies, has increased from €36 million in 2000 to €69.3 million in 2018. At the same time, growth in the institution's own resources has led to a gradual decline in the relative share of public funds in Sciences Po's overall budget. This figure has decreased by more than one-third, from 66% in 2000 to approximately 35% in 2018. Sciences Po's own resources have grown significantly. They have been multiplied by six: from €18.3 million in 2000 to €127.2 million in 2018. These resources now account for a majority of the budget. The institution took on a debt of €191 million in 2016 in order to fund the acquisition of its new Paris campus and undertake the restoration of the site. This debt is partially guaranteed by the
Paris City Council The Council of Paris (French: ''Conseil de Paris'') is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental co ...
.


Education

The academic bodies of Sciences Po consist of the Undergraduate College, six professional schools, and the Doctoral School.


Undergraduate level

The Sciences Po Undergraduate College offers a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree with a multidisciplinary foundation in the humanities and social sciences with emphasis on civic, linguistic, artistic, and digital training. On all campuses, students choose a multidisciplinary major – Politics & Government, Economies & Societies, or Political Humanities. In addition, each campus offers a different regional specialism which anchors students' intellectual objectives, the regions are: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East-Mediterranean, and North America. Sciences Po offers dual bachelor's degrees with
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
,
Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endow ...
,
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
,
Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
,
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...
, the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...
, the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public university, public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest Higher education in Hong Kong, tertia ...
, and the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...
. The current dean of the Undergraduate College is
Stéphanie Balme Stéphanie Balme is the Dean of College of Sciences at Sciences Po College (undergraduate studies). She is a permanent research fellow aCERIand professor at PSIA/Sciences Po and the Euro-Asia Campus/Sciences Po. Education Balme obtained her H ...
. In 2021, 15,284 students applied to the Undergraduate College across all three admissions pathways (the exam procedure, the Equal Opportunity Programme, and the international procedure). 1,630 students were accepted, for an admission rate of 7%.


Graduate level

At the graduate level, Sciences Po's seven schools offer one- and two-year Master's programmes and PhD programmes. All graduate programmes are delivered on the Sciences Po campus in Paris. Sciences Po also hosts dual Master's programmes with international partners. Students enrolled in these dual degree programmes spend one year at Sciences Po in Paris and one year at the partner university.


Schools

The Undergraduate College (''Collège universitaire'') is the home of all undergraduate students. At the graduate level, there are seven professional schools: * School of Public Affairs * Paris School of International Affairs *
Sciences Po Law School Sciences Po Law School (french: L'École de droit de Sciences Po) is a graduate school created in 2009 inside Sciences Po in Paris, France. History In 2009, Sciences Po created the "''École de droit de Sciences Po''" ("law school", as oppos ...
* Urban School * School of Management and Innovation * School of Journalism * Doctoral School The Doctoral School offers Master and PhD programmes in law, economics, history, political science, or sociology. The PhD programme contains roughly 600 doctoral candidates.


Research

Research at Sciences Po covers economics, law, history, sociology and political science, while also taking in interdisciplinary topics such as cities, political ecology, sustainable development, socio-economics and globalization. Sciences Po is home to a research community that includes over 200 researchers and 350 PhD candidates. In 2015, 32% of the school's budget was devoted to research. That year, 65% of its research publications were in French, 32% in English and 3% in other languages. The institute has research centers, seven of which are affiliated with France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). * Center for Socio-Political Data (CDSP), which provides scientifically validated data for international survey programs. It also supports training in data collection and analysis. * Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), which focuses on inter-disciplinary European studies; participation, democracy and government; election analyses; the restructuring of the state and public action. * Centre for International Studies (CERI), which produces comparative and historical analysis on foreign societies, international relations, and political, social and economic phenomena. * Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF), which investigates political attitudes, behaviour and parties, as well as political thought and the history of ideas. * Centre for History (CHSP), whose research focuses on: arts, knowledge and culture; wars, conflicts and violence; states, institutions and societies; the political and cultural history of contemporary France; from local to global; international history and its levels. * Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO), which conducts research on the sociology of organisations, sociology of public policy, and economic sociology. It also studies issues related to higher education and research, healthcare, sustainable development, the evolution of firms, and the transformation of the state. * Center for Studies in Social Change (OSC), which conducts research on topics such as urban, school and gender inequalities, stratification and social mobility, and ethno-racial or social segregation. * Department of Economics, which investigates areas such as labour markets, international economics, political economy, microeconomics and development. * Law School, whose research focuses on globalisation, legal cultures and the economics of law. It has also produced work on the theory and history of law, public and private international law and intellectual property. * Médialab, which studies the way data generated by new information technologies is produced, circulated and exploited. * The French Economic Observatory (OFCE), which is both a research centre and an independent economic forecasting body. Its stated mission is to "ensure that the fruits of scientific rigour and academic independence serve the public debate about the economy". In addition to these research units, the institute has recently established three major research programs – the LIEPP, DIME-SHS and MaxPo. *The Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire d'Evaluation des Politiques Publiques (LIEPP) analyzes public policy based on qualitative, comparative, and quantitative methods. The laboratory has been selected by an international scientific jury as a "Laboratoire d'Excellence" (Labex) that will be financed for the next ten years by the French government. *Données Infrastructures et Méthodes d'Enquête en Sciences Humaines et Sociales (DIME-SHS) aims to collect and disseminate data for use in humanities and social sciences research. *The Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (known as MaxPo), was founded in 2012 in co-operation with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It investigates how individuals, organizations, and nation-states deal with various forms of economic and social instability. It is located at Sciences Po's Paris campus.


Library and publishing

Founded in 1871, the nucleus of the school's research is the ''Bibliothèque de Sciences Po''. The library offers a collection of more than 950,000 titles in the field of social sciences. In 1982, the
Ministry of National Education Ministry of National Education can refer to: * Ministry of National Education (Algeria) * Ministry of National Education (Colombia) * Ministry of National Education (France) * Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs ( Greece) * Minist ...
made the ''Bibliothèque'' the Centre for Acquisition and Dissemination of Scientific and Technical Information in the field of
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
, and since 1994, it has been the antenna associated with the ''
Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national reposito ...
''."Sciences Po Paris Overview: Introducing Sciences Po" ''Sciences Po Website'', 2001. The ''Bibliothèque de Sciences Po'' is also the main French partner in the
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is a bibliography for social science and interdisciplinary research. The database focuses on the social science disciplines of anthropology, economics, politics and sociology, and rela ...
, which is based at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...
."IBSS Boosts Coverage of French Social Science Journals",
IBSS
', 2005.
Founded in the 1950s, ''Presses de Sciences Po'' is the publishing house of Sciences Po. It publishes academic works related to the
social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the o ...
."Presses de Sciences Po", ''Sciences Po Website'', 21 October 2004.


Public lectures

Sciences Po organizes public lecture events. Recent guest speakers have included
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
, General David Petraeus,
Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th ...
, former President of Brazil
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Par ...
,
Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2 ...
,
Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and th ...
, Sheryl Sandberg,
Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...
, UNESCO Director-General
Irina Bokova Irina Georgieva Bokova ( bg, Ирина Георгиева Бокова; born 12 July 1952) is a Bulgarian politician and the former Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017). During her political and diplomatic career in Bulgaria, she served ...
and Harvard University professor Michael Sandel. Since 2007 it has organized the Franco-British Dialogue Lecture Series in collaboration with the LSE and the French Embassy in London. The lectures are held every term at the LSE's European Institute.


Reputation and rankings


Rankings

In rankings based on English-speaking publications, in 2022, Sciences Po ranks 2nd globally for the study of Politics in the QS World University Subjects Rankings, whereas it is ranked 62nd in social sciences by Times Higher Education. In QS Rankings and Times Higher Education, Sciences Po is globally ranked 242 and 401–500.


Reputation and criticism

Sciences Po is often described by others and itself as an elite institution, due to its admissions selectivity and its close connection with powerful networks within French society. It has been described as a "school of power" that has emulated abroad. Because this elite status is associated with social reproduction, Sciences Po launched an "Equal Opportunity Programme" in 2001, to increase the representation of
working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
families, which as of 2013, make up 9% of students. Sciences Po has been described as a school prioritising professional networks over expertise. It diversification beyond political science and history in the 1990s would have resulted in limited expertise on each subject. As a result, the school is nicknamed "Sciences Pipeau" (pronounced and sometimes spelled "Sciences Pipo", "pipeau" meaning "scam" in colloquial French) by the general public and within the school. One of the courses related to the Law have been nicknamed "Legal Bullshit" by students due to the lack of content.Sciences Po, l'enquête inédite (2/3) : les dessous du "projet Harvard"
/ref> The school has therefore been criticized by outside observers and students for not having them acquire an actual expertise. The sociologist Nicolas Jounin, alumnus of Sciences Po, talked about an "intellectual imposture" in an op-ed called "it is time to be done with Sciences Po".Nicolas Jounin, i

/ref> The journalist at
France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentar ...
Guillaume Erner stated that the institution is "only advertisement and artifice". According "
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
", students in the school would be sometimes "disillusioned" after having "fantasized" about the school. The institute has been described as having low expectations from its students. According to ''Le Monde'', "when students educated in a faculty of social science join a master at Sciences Po, their academic level is often higher than those who followed multi-disciplinary education at an institute of political science". The Law courses at Sciences Po have also received criticism for holding lower standards than those at full law degrees; a student both at Sciences Po and at
Paris II Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
told ''L'Express'': "In Law (at Paris II), I spend three days on an essay and I have 8 (out of 20); at Sciences Po, I spend three hours on an essay and I have 16 (out of 20)." In 2012, lecturers at Sciences Po criticized instructions they received from the school telling them not to take into account grammar mistakes in their marking. The trend would furthermore be a decline of the level; according to ''Le Monde'', the cause would be the 2001 "Equal Opportunity Programme", but a lecturer in the school stated in 2021 that the reason is more the desire to attract international students and therefore the need to mark more leniently: all marks are harmonized so that the average mark would always be the same. The school has also been criticized for its close-mindedness and for its self-persuasion to be an elite institution. ''
Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France ...
'' stated in an editorial that the school have not understood that it is not special in the outside world. Peter Gumbel called Sciences Po and other "Grandes Écoles" "elite colleges hichhave become a machine for perpetuating a brilliant but blinkered, often arrogant and frequently incompetent ruling freemasonry". The academic
Gilles Devers Gilles Devers, born in 1956, is a French lawyer and academic. He has represented the Palestinian Authority before the International Court of Justice. "Sciences-Po is under-criticized," analyzes a professor for ''
Mediapart ''Mediapart'' is an independent French investigative online newspaper created in 2008 by Edwy Plenel, former editor-in-chief of ''Le Monde''. ''Mediapart'' is published in French, English and Spanish. ''Mediapart's'' income is solely derive ...
'', "Those who teach there have no interest, and not necessarily the urge, to do so. Those who are not there can hope to be there one day." The journalist
Ariane Chemin Ariane Chemin, born in 1962, is a French journalist and writer. She graduated in humanities and is an alumna of Sciences Po. In 2011, Ariane Chemin joined ''Le Monde''. Michel Houellebecq sued ''Le Monde'' for one of Chemin's articles but l ...
stated in 2013 that, because so many journalists come from Sciences Po, the school has an unduly good public reputation. The institute has also been criticized for the unfair favoritism it would be the subject of from the State, in which many public servants would be alumni of the school. It is partly state-funded, and some, including institutes of political studies in the provinces, have indeed accused it of receiving a disproportionate share of public money. In 2012, for example, Sciences Po Lille student representatives called Sciences Po (Paris) the "coronation of State inequity". Nicolas Jounin stated that the school is a "financial hold-up".


Controversies


Governance

Sciences Po is funded in large part by public money and is a semi-public institute but is governed as a private institution. It has been described by Alain Garigou as governed from 1872 to 2013 in compliance the "discreet rules of the ''bourgeoisie''". The founder Emile Boutmy stayed the director until his death in 1906 and his successor stayed until he was 90 years old in 1936. In 2013, the process of designation of a successor for Richard Descoings has been openly criticized. Louis Vogel, professor of law, former president of the Society of Presidents of university, of Paris 2 University and of
Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de So ...
and Sciences Po alumnus, had announced its candidacy based on bringing the school closer to the ''universités'' in a new international environment. He was presented as the front-runner as his profile and experience matched the best the advertised job profile. Louis Vogel was one of the three preselected candidacies but ended up retracting its candidacy before the final choice. He stated that the pre-selection also chose candidates who did not fit with the job profile, showed that the real desired profile was else, and that he did not want to endorse with his candidacy a process that is in opposition with his convictions. He further stated that Sciences Po "is sending a bad signal" and that they will have to solve their issue internally. The student vice-president of the executive board said that this decision is a "disavowal" for the research committee of Sciences Po.Le Monde, Sciences Po : le candidat Louis Vogel claque la porte, 27 février 2013 Two other candidates publicly criticized the process. In the end, Frédéric Mion made a last minute candidacy with a light application of 9 pages and was chosen with the sponsorship of Olivier Duhamel. In 2021, after the Duhamel scandal, and the resignations of Olivier Duhamel and Frédéric Mion, the process for the designation of the new head of the National Foundation, a new board of the Foundation and a new head the institute (Sciences Po itself) was heated and largely criticized. The press talked about a "bad soap"Le mauvais feuilleton de Sciences-Po continue
/ref> filled with "low blows", and alumni and academics talked about a "grotesque" "parody of democracy" According to ''
Challenges Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography * Challenge, ...
'', people close to Duhamel who are still members of the board of the National Foundation and who will be leaving are creating ad hoc committees, outside of the status of the Foundation, to process to votes in which they have a preponderant voice to choose in advance who can be candidate to become the head and the new members of the board, who will select afterwards the director of Sciences Po itself. After several votes which have been criticized for their lack of due process, Laurence Bertrand has been pre-selected to become the new head of the Foundation.Sciences Po : l’historienne Laurence Bertrand Dorléac qualifiée pour prendre la tête de la FNSP
/ref> Another candidate judged the legitimity of the process "hardly credible". A third candidate published an op-ed in ''Le Monde'' exposing the details of what he called a "tragicomedy". In the end,
Mathias Vicherat Mathias Vicherat (born 26 May 1978) is a French civil servant and director of Sciences Po since 22 November 2021. Early life He was born in 1978 in Seine-Saint-Denis. His father worked for Fnac. Professional career In September 2010, Vicher ...
, former CEO of
Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...
, was chosen. This appointment has been criticized, because Vicherat does not have an academic background. He would have been chosen as a friend and former classmate of Emmanuel Macron. A lecturer at the Institute said: "The whole procedure was shamelessly rigged so that in the end, only the candidacy of Mathias Vicherat, the President's friend, with no academic experience, remained. They methodically discarded all serious candidates."


Duhamel scandal

Camille Kouchner, daughter of Bernard Kouchner, published a book in which she wrote that her step-father Olivier Duhamel, at that time president of the Foundation of Sciences Po which was the "heart of ispower" for 30 years, sexually abused his step-son for two years during his childhood. She denounced the "microcosm of powerful people, t
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the north ...
" (headquarters of Sciences Po) who "knew" according to her, but acted "like nothing happened". Newspapers further unearthed a series of controversial attitudes toward the sexuality of minors. It led to a series of investigations on the environment of Duhamel at Sciences Po and on the way they dealt with these abuses. The scandal "shook" Sciences Po (''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'') and put it into turmoil (
France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentar ...
). The scandal was compared to a "bomb" launched on Sciences Po (''
Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...
''), to an "unpinned grenade throwned on Sciences Po" (''
Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has ...
'' and ''
Courrier International ''Courrier International'' (French for "International Mail") is a Paris-based French weekly newspaper which translates and publishes excerpts of articles from over 900 international newspapers. It also has a Portuguese and a Japanese edition. ''C ...
'') and to a "shockwave" on Sciences Po (''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'', '' La Croix'' etc.). Frederic Mion had been alerted, in particular by Aurélie Filippetti in 2019, former Ministry of Culture, of the situation but a "law of silence" had been put in place in the family regarding this. Mion declared he thought he was "rumour" and that he should have taken the issue more seriously. He told ''Le Monde'': "I let myself be fooled". According to ''
Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has ...
'', a group of lecturers knew these allegations, some of them since 2008. They didn't break the silence, justifying themselves by the possible
prescriptive period A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...
or that these facts were part of the "familial saga" in a hedonist context and "complex parents-children relations" in the 1970s. The scandal eventually led to a series of resignations under pressure at Sciences Po. After Duhamel himself resigned, both students of Sciences Po and public figures asked for the resignation of Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences Po, who first refused to do so. Mion, who Duhamel hand-picked in controversial circumstances as director of Sciences Po with a salary of 200,000 euros, first acknowledged "errors in judgment in ishandling of the allegations", and after a continuous pressure to do so, resigned in the end. It later became apparent that he had lied to the inspectors to protect at least 6 other people inside Sciences Po.
Marc Guillaume Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...
, former secretary of state, current prefect of the Paris region, and a close associate of Duhamel, resigned from the National foundation of Sciences Po. Through Sciences Po, Duhamel had a large "network of influence" in politics, newspapers, TV channels, finance, etc. and therefore the scandal attained many people because of their link with the institution. Their role in protecting this intellectual environment has been questioned. Duhamel's power has extented to
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017 French presidential election, 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, M ...
and
Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 under Presiden ...
(former
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
), both Sciences Po alumni, and both are trying to distance themselves from the "Dumahel case". Elisabeth Guigou, former minister of Justice, resigned from the national commission on incest. The scandal also has put into light the power of the Foundation of Sciences Po, less well known than Sciences Po itself but "at the heart of strategical decisions since 1945", and that the FNSP and Sciences Po are "untouchable with the power of their network". Following the Duhamel scandal, Sciences Po issued a statement condemning "all forms of sexualized violence" and declaring "its shock and astonishment". It also stated: “The fight against sexual and gender-based violence is at the heart of our institution's core values and actions.”


Sexual violence

After Richard Descoing, head of the school from 1997 to 2012, died under suspicious circumstances, it was revealed that he had sex with students, and made no case of
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist ...
's habit of "seducing" young students. Descoing also has been accused of sending burning messages to students, but no further inquiry was made. Descoing had a controversial night life and relation to drugs, and was found dead in a hotel in suspicious circumstances. After the
New York v. Strauss-Kahn ''The People of the State of New York v. Strauss-Kahn'' was a criminal case relating to allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape made by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, against Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York Hotel on 14 ...
case, DSK had to stop giving lectures at Sciences Po. He admitted orgies with young women but had denied any violence. In February 2021, hundreds of students and former students shared on Twitter allegations of rape or sexual abuse at several
Instituts d'études politiques Instituts d'études politiques (), or IEPs, are ten publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse, and since 2014 Saint-Germa ...
, and claimed that despite denunciations of victims, "colleagues and staff ereunwilling to take their complaints seriously". A hashtag #SciencesPorcs ("Sciences Pigs", similar to the French #Metoo hashtag #Balancetonporcs) has been widely used to do so. Among many op-eds dealing with the 2021 crisis at Sciences Po, two male alumni published in ''L'Express'' an op-ed specific to the sexual violence scandal, stating their disagreement with the "caricature" that is made of Sciences Po, which would be the object of "passions, sometimes irrational ones" in the public "imaginary" because of the elite status they say the institute has; they assured there is no systemic problem regarding sexual violence in Sciences Po. Bénédicte Durand, interim administrator of the school, further told ''Le Figaro'' that "no, there is no rape culture in Sciences Po". The school published a report on sexual and sexist violence that was called "abundant but shy".


Racism and social issues

Students have created the associations "Alwanat" and "Being Black at Sciences Po" to denounce open anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Black and anti-Asian hate by staff and students in the Reims and Menton campuses. Students anonymously asked the institute to recognise the existence of racism in Sciences Po. Many students and some members of the French Parliament have expressed concern about the enforcement of
racialism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism ( racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies can be mor ...
in Sciences Po. Sciences Po have been criticized in 2022 for "censuring" lectures on darwinism and theory of evolution, considered by some critics as the "ultimate taboo" in the institute. Vicherat, director of Sciences Po, insisted however that Darwin is not censured at Sciences Po. The institution has been accused in 2021 by two members of Parliament, in particular Annie Genevard, to give additional points to students using the controversial ''écriture inclusive''. Sciences Po has denied this claim and it has been widely reported as fake news, but ''
Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...
'' news have found the information to be true and some media have taken back their assessment of this information as being fake news.


Financial scandals

Alain Lancelot, director of Sciences Po from 1987 to 1996, was investigated for financial mismanagement by the French Court of Audit. Since 1997, the institution has been hit by a number of scandals, notably concerning the leadership of
Richard Descoings Richard Descoings (; June 23, 1958 – April 3, 2012) was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' or Sciences Po Paris), and as su ...
, its director from 1997 to 2012. Descoings, director from 1997 to 2012, had been criticized for offering large sums of money (through salary rise, free accommodation, etc.) to diverse members of staff, including his wife, in spite of the fact that Sciences Po is partly stately funded. In February 2012, it was revealed that an inspector of the French Court of Audit, in charge of investigating the financial behaviour of Sciences Po, was at the same time employed by Sciences Po. On 3 April 2012, Descoings was found dead in his Manhattan luxury hotel room during a trip where he was representing Sciences Po in New York. The police initially concluded that his death had been caused by an overdose, but the final coronary report eventually stated that he died a natural death. Descoings' energy on this last day and the missing phones and computer have raised questions as to the precise circumstances of his death. In October 2012, the Court of Audit reprimanded Sciences Po for financial mismanagement, accusing it of opaque remuneration procedures, unwarranted expenses claims and excessive pay-rises for managers. The Court noted that the school's complex legal status – a public institute managed by a private trust – had contributed to dysfunction and waste. It also criticized the
French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, wh ...
for increasing state funding for the school without insisting on additional public oversight. Sciences Po has also been accused to prevail results over morals. In November 2012, the government dismissed , Sciences Po's interim director, but he sought the school's permanent directorship all the same, reasoning that Alain Lancelot and Richard Descoings, former Sciences Po directors, had also been reprimanded by the Court of Audit and yet performed well in their management of the school. In July 2015, Jean-Claude Casanova, the former president of the ''Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques'', the private trust which manages Sciences Po, was fined €1500 for failing to properly consult the Foundation's Administrative Council over budgeting decisions involving public money. The Court of Financial and Budgetary Discipline eventually found Casanova guilty, but gave him a lenient sentence because the procedures had some part of regularity and because it was not customary in Sciences Po to follow all the financial rules. In February 2016, the Court of Audit noted that reforms had been made, but stated that greater transparency was still needed. Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences Po since 2013, defended the school's record and asked the judges to write their report again.


Access to the Bar

Originally, only the "maîtrise en droit" delivered after 4 years of study by ''universités'' (as opposed to ''Grandes écoles'' like Sciences Po) was giving access to the legal profession. As soon as 2004, fearing for the access to the bar and legal professions to be open to institutions that are not faculties of law in ''universités'', 54 professors of law signed a long text in the 'Recueil Dalloz' (major French legal journal), called "The Fight for the Law". They pointed out in particular the problem of the quality of the knowledge of legal professionals and of their deontology, should it be otherwise. They managed to have the education in law to have a special place in the French Code of Education. The move was co-led by Guillaume Drago, professor at
Paris II Panthéon-Assas Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and François Gaudu, professor at
Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Sin ...
. In 2007, however, a governmental decree authorized Sciences Po students to pass the Bar exam, providing they take a master's degree with the mention "law". Academics in law labeled such a move as a "coup" and created an online petition called "call against the questioning of the utility of legal studies in the education of lawyers" ("appel contre la remise en cause de l'utilité des études juridiques dans la formation des avocats"). 445 academics publicly signed the petition, which is 15% of all French academics in law. The unity of the French academic body was noted: left- and right-wing professors, professors from Paris and outside Paris, in public law or private law... were in favor of the move. Students’ unions supported it. The union of (French) law school's deans "totally" associated itself to the move too. These critics said that it would not be a problem if Sciences Po was offering 8 semesters of law, as required as a general rule, to access to the bar. However, Sciences Po would be offering only general courses in social sciences with only a "sprinkling of law" in the masters programs. That would not be enough to become a barrister (''avocat'') and would put into question the utility of the law to become one. It would be creating barristers with a cheap education in law and would be detrimental, in particular, for the citizens who would take the services of barristers who did not have a proper education in law. To them, with this decree, the law was becoming a marketing product in a service of a school of political science that has many connections with politicians. They would have preferred Sciences Po to keep with political sciences. In 2009, Sciences Po created the "''École de droit de Sciences Po''" ("law school", as opposed in French to a ''faculté de droit'', "faculty of law"), delivering masters (graduate) degrees only. In 2008, partly as an answer,
Paris II Panthéon-Assas Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
created a ''collège de droit'' (undergraduate level) and then an "''école de droit''" (graduate level) on top of its faculty of law to attract top students in France. A lot of universities followed this model, and created these highly selective "colleges" or "schools".


Use of adjunct lecturers

Sciences Po has been criticized for the abuse of the title of "professor" from their adjunct lecturers. Only 7% of the teaching body have permanent employment. People lecturing only a few hours call themselves "professor at Sciences Po". This creates artificial advertisement, both for Sciences Po advertising a prestigious "staff" and for politicians and journalists linking themselves to this prestigious network.


Notable people


Alumni

It has been customary to graduate in Sciences Po in addition to a law school or a ''grande école'' in Paris, therefore many of these graduates are also graduates of the latter. Most the alumni network is composed of students who received lectures in Sciences in addition to another studies. In 2016, the Sciences Po Alumni Association declared that there were 55,000 alumni. Many alumni are notable for their roles in fields such as politics or business.


Politics

Five of the eight presidents of the
French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged from ...
have attended Sciences Po, including
Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 19 ...
(in addition to the
École normale supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education sca ...
),
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, ...
(in addition to the Paris Law Faculty),
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as ...
,
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Sei ...
(who did not graduate; in addition to the law school of Paris Nanterre University),
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle f ...
(in addition to
HEC HEC or hec may refer to: Math and science * Habitable Exoplanets Catalog * HEC syndrome, a medical condition characterized by hydrocephalus, endocardial fibroelastosis and cataracts * Highly emetogenic chemotherapy, a term for chemotherapy drug ...
and
Paris II Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
), and
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017 French presidential election, 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, M ...
. Acting president Alain Poher (in addition to Mines ParisTech) is also an alumnus. A number of French politicians who are Sciences Po alumni also graduated from Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), as the Sciences Po degree and its preparatory programmes prepare well for the competitive entrance to ENA. According to a study published in ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' in 2017, 14% (81 of the 577) of French members of parliament elected the same year were Sciences Po graduates, the most represented university in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. The French
Castex government The Castex government (French: ''Gouvernement Castex'') was the forty-second government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 3 July 2020 and headed by Jean Castex as Prime Minister under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. It was dissolved o ...
included a number of Sciences Po graduates, including
Florence Parly Florence Parly (born 8 May 1963) is a French politician who served as Minister of the Armed Forces under President Emmanuel Macron from 2017 to 2022. A former member of the Socialist Party (PS), she previously served as Secretary of State for ...
,
Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...
, and Jean-Michel Blanquer. Some politicians having a role in international organisations were also students at Sciences Po, including Simone Veil (in addition to the Paris Law School), former President of the European Parliament;
Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...
, former
UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...
;
Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lam ...
, former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation;
Michel Camdessus Michel Camdessus (born 1 May 1933) is a French economist who served as the seventh managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, the longest serving in that position. He previously served as the Governor of the Ba ...
and
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist ...
, former presidents of the International Monetary Fund; Jean-Claude Trichet, former President of the European Central Bank; and Marisol Touraine, Chair of Unitaid Executive Board. Sciences Po is also ''alma mater'' to politicians including
Habib Bourgiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Tu ...
(Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia 1956-1957 and the first President of the
Tunisian Republic ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
1957-1987),
Joseph Ki-Zerbo Joseph Ki-Zerbo (June 21, 1922 – December 4, 2006, Burkina Faso) was a Burkinabé historian, politician and writer. He is recognized as one of Africa's foremost thinkers. From 1972 to 1978 he was professor of African History at the University o ...
(Burkinabé advocate for African independence),
Mohammad Mosaddegh Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of ...
(Prime Minister of Iran 1951-1953),
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...
(
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as suc ...
1968–1979, 1980–1984), and Thanat Khoman (Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs 1959-1971 and Deputy Prime Minister 1981-1983).


Diplomacy

Senior French diplomats including Jean-Marcel Jeanneney (France's first Ambassador to Algieria)
François Delattre François Delattre (born 15 November 1963) is a French diplomat and senior civil servant who has been serving as France’s Ambassador to Germany since 2022. From 2019 to 2022, Delattre served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Europe and ...
(currently Permanent Representative of France to the UN), Gérard Araud (former ambassador to the USA),
Sylvie Bermann Sylvie-Agnès Bermann (born 19 October 1953) is a French former career diplomat who served as the ambassador of France to the United Kingdom,ambassador to Russia), Bernard Émié (currently Director of the DGSE), Jean-Maurice Ripert (former
Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations The role of the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations (french: Ambassadeur et Représentant permanent de la France auprès des Nations Unies) is as the leader of the French delegation to the United Nations in New Y ...
, Ambassador of France to Russia, and Ambassador of France to China), and
Maurice Gourdault-Montagne Maurice Gourdault-Montagne CMG, CVO (born on 16 November 1953) is a career diplomat and former French Ambassador to China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Career Mr Gourdault-Montagne joined the French Foreign Ministry in 1978. He ser ...
(currently ambassador to China) are also alumni.


Other

The writer
Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...
for one year, the founder of the modern
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...
for one year, fashion designer
Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
, author
Leïla Slimani Leïla Slimani (born 3 October 1981) is a Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist. She is also a French diplomat in her capacity as the personal representative of the French president Emmanuel Macron to the '' Organisation internationale de la Fran ...
, author
Emmanuel Carrère Emmanuel Carrère (born 9 December 1957) is a French author, screenwriter and film director. Life Family Carrère was born into a wealthy family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. His father, Louis Carrère d'Encausse, is a retired insurance e ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
Professor of political science Stanley Hoffmann, Chinese linguist Ma Jianzhong, Director of Paris Peace Forum Justin Vaïsse, journalist
Arthur Dreyfus Arthur Dreyfus (born 4 June 1986 in Lyon), is a French-Swiss writer, journalist, screenwriter and director. He became known in 2009, the year he received the French Young Writer Prize for his short story ''Il Déserte'' (''He Deserts''). Biogra ...
, researcher, Margaret Maruani, political scientist
Tiago C. Peixoto Tiago Carneiro Peixoto (Araguari, born February 20, 1977) is a Brazilian political scientist and Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank, who promotes participatory democracy and digital government around the globe. Recognized as an expert ...
, and former ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' editor
Jean-Marie Colombani Jean-Marie Colombani (born 7 July 1948 in Dakar, Senegal) is a French journalist, and was the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper ''Le Monde'' from 1994 until 2007. Biography Educated at Panthéon-Assas University and Science-Po, he is the ...
have all graduated from Sciences Po.


Permanent staff

Jurist and 1907
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
laureate Louis Renault taught international law at Sciences Po since its foundation in 1875 until his death in 1918. Economist Jean-Paul Fitoussi taught at Sciences Po since 1982. Élie Halévy taught history of English political ideas and socialism at Sciences Po from 1896 until his death in 1937. Pierre Renouvin, a French historian of international relations, taught at Sciences Po from 1938 to 1970 Arbitrator Emmanuel Gaillard taught at the Law School until his death. The philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist Bruno Latour taught at Sciences Po from 2006 until his death in 2022. Pierre Hassner, a Romanian-French geopolitologist and philosopher, was Director Emeritus of Research at the Sciences Po Center for International Studies and Research.
Jean-Luc Parodi Jean-Luc Parodi (8 June 1937 – 21 January 2022) was a French political scientist. Biography Jean-Luc was the son of Alexandre Parodi, a Councillor of State and a member of the French Resistance. His uncle, René Parodi, was made a Companio ...
, a French political scientist, worked at the Sciences Po Center of Political Research for the entirety of his career.


Directors


National foundation of Sciences Po (FNSP)

* ...-2021 : Olivier Duhamel *2021-... : Louis Schweitzer (interim)


Sciences Po

* 1872-1906 : Emile Boutmy * 1906-1936 : Eugène d'Eichtal * 1945–47 :
Roger Seydoux Roger Seydoux (28 March 1908 in Paris – 3 July 1985 in Paris) was a French academic and diplomat. Main diplomatic assignments * Last Resident-general in Tunisia * First ambassador to Tunisia (1956) * Ambassador to Morocco (1960-1962) See o ...
* 1947–79 : Jacques Chapsal * 1979–87 : Michel Gentot * 1987–96: Alain Lancelot * 1997–2012:
Richard Descoings Richard Descoings (; June 23, 1958 – April 3, 2012) was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' or Sciences Po Paris), and as su ...
* 2012: Hervé Crès (interim) * 2012–13: Jean Gaeremynck (interim) * 2013–2021: Frédéric Mion * 2021–2021 Bénédicte Durand (interim) * 2021–present
Mathias Vicherat Mathias Vicherat (born 26 May 1978) is a French civil servant and director of Sciences Po since 22 November 2021. Early life He was born in 1978 in Seine-Saint-Denis. His father worked for Fnac. Professional career In September 2010, Vicher ...


See also

*
Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) is a non-profit educational organization of graduate schools of international affairs, with 40 members and 26 affiliates around the world. Starting as a network of Ameri ...
*
École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...
*
Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: * Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spa ...
*
Grands établissements The ''grands établissements'' (; "great establishments") are French public institutions under ministerial charter under the administrative category referred to as Établissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPCS ...
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Instituts d'études politiques Instituts d'études politiques (), or IEPs, are ten publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse, and since 2014 Saint-Germa ...
* List of Sciences Po honorary doctorate laureates * Paris School of International Affairs


References and notes


Notes


Bibliography

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Richard Descoings Richard Descoings (; June 23, 1958 – April 3, 2012) was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' or Sciences Po Paris), and as su ...
, ''Sciences Po. De la Courneuve à Shanghai'', préface de René Rémond, Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2007 () *
Jacques Chapsal Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...
, " L'Institut d'études politiques de l'Université de Paris ", ''Annales de l'Université de Paris'', n° 1, 1950 * " Centenaire de l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris (1872–1972) ", brochure de l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris, 1972
A Sciences-Po, les voyages forment la jeunesse
Monde Diplomatique, Février 2006 * Pierre Favre, ''Cent dix années de cours à l'École libre des sciences politiques et à l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris (1871–1982)'', thèse de doctorat, 2 volumes, 1986 * Gérard Vincent, ''Sciences Po. Histoire d'une réussite'', Orban, Paris, 1987 * Marie-Estelle Leroty, ''L'Enseignement de l'histoire à l'École libre des sciences politiques et à l'Institut d'études politiques de l'Université de Paris de 1943 à 1968'', mémoire de diplôme d'études approfondies dirigé par
Jean-François Sirinelli Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include: * Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician * Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist * Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fre ...
, Institut d'études politiques de Paris, 2000 * Anne Muxel (direction), ''Les Étudiants de Sciences Po'', Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2004, : Résultats d'une grande enquête menée en janvier 2002 auprès des élèves par le Cevipof * Comité national d'évaluation des établissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel,
Rapport d'évaluation de l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris
', Septembre 2005 * Cyril Delhay, ''Promotion ZEP. Des quartiers à Sciences Po'', Paris:
Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...
, 2006,


External links


Sciences Po (FNSP and IEP Paris) official English-version website

''Histoire@Politique''
(journal published by the IEP-Paris)

New York Times, September 2011 {{Authority control Instituts d'études politiques Schools in Paris Grandes écoles Libraries in Paris Political science organizations Schools of international relations Educational institutions established in 1872 1872 establishments in France Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris