Paris Institute of Political Studies

Sciences Po (French pronunciation: [sjɑ̃s po]) or Sciences Po Paris, formally known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris), is a public research university located in Paris, France, which holds the status of grande école and the legal status of grand établissement. The university's undergraduate program is taught on the Paris campus as well as on the decentralized campuses in Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Poitiers and Reims, each with their own academic program focused on a geopolitical part of the world. While Sciences Po historically specialized in political science, it progressively expanded to other social sciences such as economics, law, and sociology.

The school was established in 1872 by Émile Boutmy as the École libre des sciences politiques in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War as a private institution to form a new French elite that would be knowledgeable in political science, law, and history. It was a pioneer in the emergence and development of political science as an academic field in France. Following World War II, the school was nationalized and re-established as a public institution. As of 2021, 80% of Sciences Po graduates are employed in the private sector.

Sciences Po Paris is the only Institute of Political Sciences in France allowed to refer to itself with the epithet "Sciences Po" without indicating the name of the city where their headquarters are located, under a legal agreement with the other institutes. They are allowed to 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 Lille" or "Sciences Po Grenoble."

The institute is a member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and The European University of Social Sciences.

History

1872 to 1945: Free School of Political Sciences

Sciences Po was established in December 1871 as the École libre des sciences politiques (ELSP) by a group of French intellectuals, politicians and businessmen led by Émile Boutmy, including Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel and Paul Leroy Beaulieu. The creation of the school was in response to widespread fears that the inadequacy of the education of the French political elite corps would diminish the country's international stature, as France grappled with a series of crises, including its defeat in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, the demise of Napoleon III's regime, and the upheaval and massacre resulting from the Paris Commune. The founders of the school sought to reform the training of the French political and economic elite 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 only been taught ancient humanities for centuries, which they could still learn in universities at the same time.

The École 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 most powerful and prestigious administrative bodies in the French Civil Service, 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 classes there on top of earning a degree at the University of Paris, in particular the Law Faculty).

Other countries created similar schools in the following century. In 1875, the Istituto Cesare Alfieri in Italy (now part of the University of Florence), 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 London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, and, after WW1, for the School of Foreign Service from Georgetown University in the United States and the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland.

The connection between Sciences Po and French institutions meant that the school also played a key role in the apparatus of the French colonial empires. In 1886, the university established a colonial studies program 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, Jules Cambon, Charles Jonnart, 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.

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 Collégiades de Sciences Po 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

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, classrooms and the central library since 1879; it is located in a hôtel particulier called Hôtel de Mortemart. It is also home to Sciences Po's two largest teaching halls, the Amphitheatres Émile Boutmy and Jacques Chapsal. Other buildings include:

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 refurbished the building for a total cost of around 200 million euros. The new facility which opened in 2022, hosts 7 graduate schools including School of Public Affairs, Paris School of International Affairs, Law School, Urban School, School of Management and Impact, Journalism School and the School of Research. It is home to the scientific department and the institute of innovation as well as the Sciences Po's Center for Entrepreneurship. It will provide social housing for 50 to 100 students with need-based aid from the State.

Dijon

Located in the region of Burgundy in a 19th-century building, the Dijon campus was created in 2001. The regional specialisation is on the European Union, specifically Central and Eastern Europe, and is taught in French. The elective languages offered are Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Czech.

Le Havre

Located on the coast of Normandy, Le Havre has hosted the undergraduate Euro-Asian Programme (taught in English) since 2007. The elective languages offered are Chinese, Japanese and Korean, and French as a Foreign Language courses for students without a B1-equivalent level. Students primarily choose to spend their third year abroad in an Asian country.

Menton

Established in the French Riviera city of Menton in 2005, the campus is located in an entirely renovated 19th-century building overlooking the Mediterranean. According to the Sciences Po brochure, the Menton Campus' regional specialisation is on the Middle Eastern and the Mediterranean, and it welcomes 300 students each year. The undergraduate programme is taught through two language tracks (French or English) and several elective languages are offered: Arabic, Turkish, Italian, Spanish, Persian, Hebrew, and French as a Foreign Language for those without a CEFR B1-equivalent level in French. The third mandatory year abroad is spent in the Middle East or elsewhere.

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 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 school's development under Richard Descoings led it to contract a €68 million debt by 2010. 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.

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.

In the first year, students take foundational courses in six disciplines - economics, history, humanities, law, political science, and sociology. In the second year, students choose a multidisciplinary major – Politics & Government, Economics & Societies, or Political Humanities. The third year is spent abroad on an exchange programme with a partner university. In addition, each campus offers a different regional specialisation 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, Keio University, University College London, Freie Universität Berlin, University of British Columbia, the University of Sydney, the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of California, Berkeley.

The current dean of the Undergraduate College is Jeanne Lazarus.

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%.

Sciences Po has an acceptance rate of around 10% on Parcoursup (the national admissions platform for higher education) in 2021.

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:

The Sciences Po School of Research 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.

Reputation and rankings

National rankings

As of 2022, Sciences Po has the highest yield rate of the French Institutes of political studies, as 86% of students who were admitted to its undergraduate programs accepted their offer. In 2022, the admission rate of the school was 10% at the undergraduate level, and 5% on the Paris campus. In 2023, French students who joined the school had scored an average of 17.9/20 at the Baccalauréat. 92% of French students admitted to undergraduate programs got their Baccalauréat Summa cum laude ("mention Très bien").

National rankings place the school in first place in sociology, social policy and administration, in second place in development studies and law, and third place in economics.

International rankings

In rankings based on English-speaking publications, in 2023, Sciences Po ranks 2nd globally for the study of Politics in the QS World University Subjects Rankings, whereas it is ranked 39th in social sciences by Times Higher Education. In 2024, its global ranking in the QS World University Rankings decreased to the 319th rank.

Reputation and criticism

Sciences Po has been called France's "leading university in the social sciences". It is considered to be the most prestigious of all of the IEP (Instituts d'études politiques, or Institutes of Political Studies) in France. Sciences Po is widely regarded to be an elite institution due to its selectivity in admissions and its close connections to powerful networks within French society. It has been described as a "school of power" that has inspired schools abroad, such as the London School of Economics. Because of its role in training the French elite, it has been called the "school of domination". According Le Monde, the school's reputation for excellency and its prestige are such that some freshmen are sometimes "disillusioned" after having "fantasized" about the school.

Because of its role in training the French political, administrative and economic elite, the school has been criticized by far-left critics for the alleged close-mindedness of its students. Peter Gumbel called Sciences Po and other Grandes Écoles "elite colleges [which] have become a machine for perpetuating a brilliant but blinkered, often arrogant and frequently incompetent ruling freemasonry". The academic Gilles Devers criticized the institution for being the "base of the conservatism, and the mold of the molluscs that make the public elite" where "dissenting ideas are only admitted if they strengthen the system".

Sciences Po's core curriculum has historically been very transdisciplinary, as the students go through introductory classes to disciplines as diverse as political science, economics, history, law and international relations. This priority given to transversality of knowledge over expertise in one field has been the subject of praise as well as of criticism.

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