Instituts d'études politiques (; ), or IEP's, colloquially referred to as Sciences Po, are ten publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, and since 2014

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

. Their vocation is the study and research of contemporary political science. All students at the IEPs study a curriculum that is highly practical and broad-based, focusing on the full range of the social sciences across law, economics, finance, and management. These schools are considered as some of the most selective in France, mainly because they are the place where many political and business leaders are trained. These establishments are more widely known under the name of Sciences Po.

Sciences Po Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

is considered to be the most prestigious of all the IEP's in France, and is the only one allowed to refer to itself with the epithet "Sciences Po" without indicating the name of the city where it is located, under a legal agreement with the other IEP's. Other IEP's can use the term "Sciences Po" to refer to themselves only when followed by the names of the cities where they are located, such as " Sciences Po Aix" or " Sciences Po Grenoble". Other IEPs in France were created after the Paris one, apart from Strasbourg, which was created by the same law but with the status of an internal institute of the Robert Schuman University. According to article 2 of an 18 December 1989 decree, their mission is: # to contribute to the training of higher civil servants as well as executives in the public, para-public and private sectors, notably in the State and decentralized communities # to develop the research in political and administrative sciences The Sciences Po approach and style inspired many universities in France but also abroad. The most famous example the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, founded on the model of the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques.

Grande École System

Sciences Po institutes are a type of Grande École, a French institution of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

in the United States,

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

in the UK, and C9 League in China, ''Grandes Écoles'' are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process., unlike French ordinary public universities which "have an obligation to accept all candidates in the same academic field". Alumni go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France. Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21),
lire en ligne
sur Cairn.infoValérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq
Les inégalités sociales d’accès aux grandes écoles
(2003), INSEE In particular, the Paris IEP ("Sciences Po") has produced at least seven recent French presidents (including the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron), 13 French prime ministers, 12 foreign heads of state or government, and six of the CEO's of France's largest companies. Although they are more expensive than public universities in France, ''Grandes Écoles'' typically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies, and many of their programs are taught in English. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the ''Grandes Écoles''. Many of the top ranked schools in Europe are members of the '' Conférence des Grandes Écoles'' ''(CGE)'', as are the Sciences Po institutions. Degrees from Sciences Po are accredited by the ''Conférence des Grandes Écoles'' and awarded by the

Ministry of National Education (France) The Ministry of National Education and Youth, or simply Ministry of National Education, as the title has changed several times in the course of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, is the cabinet member in the Government of France who ove ...

().

List

The ten Instituts d'études politiques are: *

Institut d'études politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

(Sciences Po Paris or simply, Sciences Po) * Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence (Sciences Po Aix) *

Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux (), also known as Sciences Po Bordeaux (), is a French grande école located on the university campus of Pessac, Bordeaux. It is attached to the University of Bordeaux. Established in 1948, Sciences Po ...

Critérium

Every year an inter-IEP competition is held, hosted by the hometown of one of the IEPs and attended by participants from all 10 IEPs. The first ''crit'', as it is known colloquially, was created in 1987 by the IEPs of

and

who decided to have a friendly rugby match. This competition takes the form of a 3-day sports event and party, and is held over the last weekend of March, run by the host university's "Sports office". The hosting of an event generally costs about 200,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s, funded by the participants, as well as by sponsors and grants. The hosting of the event is rotated between the different IEPs each year.

Hosts

* 1987: IEP de Bordeaux * 1988: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1989: IEP de Grenoble * 1990: IEP de Toulouse * 1991: IEP de Lyon * 1992: IEP de Paris * 1993: IEP de Strasbourg * 1994: IEP de Lille * 1995: IEP de Rennes * 1996: IEP de Bordeaux * 1997: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1998: IEP de Grenoble * 1999: IEP de Toulouse * 2000: IEP de Lyon * 2001: IEP de Strasbourg * 2002: IEP de Paris * 2003: IEP de Lille * 2004: IEP de Bordeaux * 2005: IEP de Rennes * 2006: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 2007: IEP de Grenoble * 2008: IEP de Toulouse * 2009: IEP de Lyon * 2010: IEP de Strasbourg – Choukrit * 2011: IEP de Paris – Monarcrit * 2012: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence – Apéricrit * 2013: IEP de Bordeaux – Grand Crit classé * 2014: IEP de Rennes (canceled) * 2015: IEP de Grenoble – Les bronzés font du Crit * 2016: IEP de Toulouse *2017: IEP de Lyon – Crit Gone Wild *2018: IEP de Strasbourg – Le Temps de Krithédrales *2019: IEP de Paris – L'Impéracrit *2020: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence – La Goire de mon Crit (canceled)

Traditions

Each of the 10 ''instituts'' has a distinctive colour and distinctive symbols and/or mascots: * Aix-en-Provence. Colours: Red and gold. Mascot: "Pastaga-man" Symbol: An "X",

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s * Toulouse. Colours: Pink and white. Mascot: A pig or hog. * Bordeaux. Colours: Red and black. Symbol: A bottle of red wine. * Rennes. Colours: Orange and black. Mascot: A reindeer called "René". * Paris. Colours: Yellow and black. Symbol: A lion and a fox. * Lille. Colours: Red and white. Mascot: A giant mussel * Strasbourg. Colours: Blue and white. Mascot: A stork called "Josy". Nicknamed the "Strohteam". * Lyon. Colours: Blue and red. Mascot: a lion called "Lyonix". * Grenoble. Colours: Blue and yellow. Mascot: Big Foot ("le Yéti"). Nicknamed "

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

" due to their colours. * Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Colours: Green and black. Symbol: a wolf.

Winners

Paris and Aix-en-Provence are the usual winners of the trophy * 1987: IEP de Bordeaux * 1988: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1989: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1990: — * 1991: — * 1992: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1993: IEP de Bordeaux * 1994: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1995: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1996: IEP de Bordeaux * 1997: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 1998: IEP de Paris * 1999: IEP de Toulouse * 2000: IEP de Paris * 2001: IEP de Paris * 2002: IEP de Paris * 2003: IEP de Paris * 2004: IEP de Paris * 2005: IEP de Paris * 2006: IEP d'Aix-en-Provence * 2007: IEP de Grenoble * 2008: IEP de Grenoble * 2009: IEP de Paris * 2010: IEP de Grenoble * 2011: IEP de Paris * 2012: IEP de Paris * 2013: IEP de Paris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Institut D'etudes Politiques politiques Political science education Political science organizations Public policy schools Educational institutions in France Political science in France de:Institut d'études politiques de Paris