Written by Molly Ellison. Photo courtesy of Roman Boed via Flickr.

Looking for the best full-time MBA programs in France? Here’s your ultimate guide! Read on to compare the country’s best MBA programs head-to-head. Want more personalized advice? Get the inside scoop from Admissions Directors and alumni of France’s best programs.

• 5 REASONS TO GET YOUR MBA IN FRANCE
• WORKING IN FRANCE AND POST-MBA CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
• TOP FULL-TIME MBA PROGRAMS IN FRANCE
• APPLICATION TIPS FROM FRENCH MBA ADMISSIONS DIRECTORS
• WHAT’S IT REALLY LIKE AT TOP FRENCH MBA PROGRAMS? (STUDENT OPINIONS)
• HEAD TO HEAD – INSEAD MBA vs. HEC PARIS MBA vs. EDHEC MBA vs. GRENOBLE MBA vs. EM LYON MBA vs. ESSEC MBA

5 Reasons to Get Your MBA in France

1. France is more than just the globe’s top tourist hot-spot – the country boasts the sixth largest economy in the world and is home to diverse industries, including niché ones such as luxury goods. The country’s capital and largest city, Paris, is a finance hub for the Eurozone, and 29 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the city.

2. International students make up the majority of most top MBA programs in France, so it’s no surprise that the country is the second most popular MBA destination in Europe for international students. Post-graduation, students tend to work all over the world, with large percentages of students living throughout Europe and Asia.

3. In recent years, many top French MBA programs have been tailoring their programs for the student with an entrepreneurial or tech edge. For non-French nationals looking to stay in the country post-grad, the government has recently rolled out visa schemes and grant programs geared toward foreign entrepreneurs and investors.

4. If mastering a new language sounds appealing, you may be well-suited to study in France. Many top MBA programs require or strongly encourage students to learn French and/or another language during their studies.

5. Top French MBA programs maintain strong footings in international rankings, yet also tend to be more affordable when compared to their American and British counterparts. Many programs also offer generous scholarships and discounts. If you’re hoping for financial assistance, apply early and do your research on school-specific opportunities.

Working in France and Post-MBA Career Opportunities

• Visa – If you are an EU citizen or from the European Economic Area, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland, or Norway, you don’t need a visa to study in France. Otherwise, if your program is longer than six months, you’ll need a long-stay visa, formally known as a “visa de long séjour pour études” or “extended-stay VLT-TS.” Upon completion of your MBA, France has a range of visa options that sometimes require employer sponsorship. The government launched the French Tech Visa in January 2017, making the country even more attractive to foreign entrepreneurs.
• Taxes – Income tax rates go up to 45 percent for the country’s highest earners. In 2015, the government launched the French Tech Ticket, which provides foreign entrepreneurs with more than just a work visa – they’re also given a cash grant, office space and pro-bono administrative assistance.
• School reputations
  • INSEAD Europe Campus (INSEAD) – INSEAD regularly tops international MBA rankings – Financial Times currently rates it as the best program in the world. Its unique, robust three-campus structure allows students to seamlessly study around the globe.
  • HEC Paris (HEC Paris) – HEC Paris is one of the most prestigious French MBA programs – The Economist rated it as the top MBA program in the country and #9 globally. It also boasts an impressive alumni network – it’s Europe’s top b-school for educating Fortune 500 CEOs.
  • EDHEC Business School (EDHEC) – The school prides itself on having an enterprising spirit – QS Top MBA ranked EDHEC as Europe’s top program for entrepreneurs. Financial Times rated it as the top French MBA for value for money – and #3 worldwide.
  • Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) – Both GEM and the city it calls home – Grenoble – are known for their strengths in technology and innovation. This is partially due to the significant resources the French government has poured into the town since the 1960s to build up its research centers and resources for startups.
  • EM Lyon Business School (EM Lyon) – EM Lyon is known for its entrepreneurial edge – 21% of its Class of 2016 entered an entrepreneurial employment situation upon graduation. And, 90% were employed within three months, making EM Lyon attractive among the region’s employers.
  • ESSEC Business School (ESSEC) – Though ESSEC is more than 100 years old, its MBA program only began in 2011. The program is still gaining its footing and has yet to be ranked internationally, but its unique specializations in Luxury Brand Management and Hospitality Management set it apart from other MBAs.
• Geography – Situated at the heart of Western Europe, France is ideally located for those looking to travel throughout the region. Each day, Paris hosts 225 direct flights to destinations outside of Europe, 700 to cities within in the continent, and high-speed trains to Brussels, Munich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London. If you’re looking to study there, you should probably invest in learning French. Unlike some neighboring countries, learning the native language can be critical in getting by. Many top MBA programs offer language instruction, though, either as required coursework or electives. The country’s capital city, Paris, is more affordable than other major cities in Western Europe and is also the second most popular city on the continent for foreign investors.
• Industry – Accounting for nearly 5% of the EU’s GDP, France is Europe’s leading economic area and has diverse industries to work in post-grad. Notably, the country is home to several luxury brands and some MBA programs offer tailored coursework in the niché field. The country’s economy has been in flux in recent years, though, and many are concerned about its high unemployment rates.
  
• Return on Investment – In 2017, Financial Times ranked top French MBA programs as follows for value for money: EDHEC, #3; INSEAD, #11; HEC Paris, #35; and Grenoble, #56.

Top Full-Time MBA Programs in France

INSEAD Europe Campus (INSEAD)

• INSEAD dubs itself ‘the Business School for the World’ and its unique program structure reiterates this. The school has campuses in Fontainebleau, France; Singapore; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On average, 70% of students transfer among campuses during their MBA studies. INSEAD also has exchange partnerships with Wharton (U.S.), Kellogg (U.S.), and CEIBS (China).
• The French campus opened its doors in the 1960s and is nestled in a quiet forest in Fontainebleau, about one hour southeast of Paris. The European institution established ties with Asia in 1980 and opened its full Singapore campus in 1999.
• INSEAD regularly sits at the top of global MBA rankings. It’s ranked #1 by Financial Times in 2017 and #2 by Bloomberg Businessweek in 2016.
• The MBA program offers two intakes – one in January and one in September. Both offer 10 months of in-class instruction, though the January intake gives students a two-month break during the summer for internships.
• INSEAD regularly sends more than 40% of its graduates into consulting and is known as a top feeder school for the world’s leading management consulting firms.
• INSEAD is launching a new MBA curriculum this year, adapting its courses to the world’s more digitally focused economy. It will begin implementing the new curriculum with the September 2017 intake.

HEC Paris (HEC Paris)

• The school prides itself on its high-profile alumni network – it is the top b-school in Europe for educating CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Jean-Paul Agnon, CEO of L’Oreal, is a graduate of the program and is still active in the community.
• The HEC Paris MBA is an ideal option for students looking to tailor their experiences. In addition to offering five degree specializations, there is a customized phase built into the curriculum during which students can participate in electives, fieldwork, international exchanges, and career building and coaching sessions. Students can also add on a certificate from eight options, ranging from Digital Entrepreneurship, to Social Business/Enterprise and Poverty.
• In 2012, HEC Paris worked with Bain & Co. to revamp its MBA curriculum that divided coursework into two sections: the Fundamental Phase, which includes core courses and language study, and the Customized Phase, which allows students to pursue a double degree or specialization, study abroad, participate in fieldwork, and take elective courses. The b-school also opened a new building almost exclusively devoted the program. In 2013, the school launched a new curriculum focusing on big data and analytics, which was developed in partnership with tech-giant IBM.
• Through a partnership with the Wisconsin School of Business in the U.S., students have the opportunity to obtain a Global Real Estate Master’s Degree. The school offers other double-degree opportunities and international exchange opportunities with more than 40 partner universities around the world.

EDHEC Business School (EDHEC)

• Located in Nice, a picturesque coastal town in the South of France, EDHEC’s MBA program was ranked #3 for value for money worldwide by Financial Times in 2016. The school also has campuses in Lille, France; Paris, France; London, United Kingdom; and Singapore.
• The program boasts an enterprising spirit and offers an entrepreneurship track for students. QS Top MBA ranks EDHEC as the #1 MBA in Europe for Entrepreneurship. Nearly one-third of its 2015 graduates landed jobs in the technology industry.
• After students wrap up their more traditional coursework, they complete an MBA Project that they can tailor to their interests. Options include a consulting project, corporate internship, research project or business plan.
• Depending on a student’s interests and specializations, MBA candidates have opportunities to go on business trips to South Africa, London, Singapore, and Silicon Valley.

Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM)

• As a whole, GEM (and the city of Grenoble) is known for its focus on innovation and technology. In 2010, GEM was a founding member of the 250 hectare Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies (GIANT) campus, which focuses on research and innovations in the IT, communication, health, and energy sectors.
• GEM’s main campus is located about five hours south of Paris in the French Alps. It also works through partner institutions to host a full-time MBA program in Berlin, Germany, and part-time ones in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Moscow, Russia.
• Tuition for GEM’’s MBA is the most affordable for top French programs (roughly 40% the cost of INSEAD), and is particularly inexpensive when compared to others around the world.
• GEM was the first French business school to include geopolitics as a core part of its programs.
• After students complete their on-campus coursework, they must complete a Final Management Project that’s 15,000 words long. The activity is research-based and students can work on it while also employed full-time or participating in an internship.
• MBA graduates receive a certificate conferring on them the title of Manager International, recognized by the French Ministry of Labor.

EM Lyon Business School (EM Lyon)

• EM Lyon puts entrepreneurship front and center through its 6-month New Venture course, entrepreneurship focused specializations, and proximity to France’s #1 ranked incubator.
• The MBA program’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (ELP) is a project-based learning experience that is a highlight for many students. It pairs candidates with a real client and lasts for nine months – nearly the entire duration of the program.
• EM Lyon is located in Lyon, France, a mid-sized city located in the heart of the French Alps. It’s about 4.5 hours southeast of Paris and only 2 hours southwest of Geneva, Switzerland.
• Students can specialize by industry (Luxury Business or Innovation in Life Sciences), firm type (Multinational Enterprises or New Ventures), or function (Finance, Marketing, International Strategy).
• The program has a required Europe trip that grants students networking opportunities on the continent. It also offers international exchange opportunities at 11 partner universities ranging from 1-5 months in length.
• Though many other top MBA programs in France require students to study a foreign language (primarily French), EM Lyon students must be fluent in at least two languages upon admission.

ESSEC Business School (ESSEC)

• ESSEC’s flagship campus is in France and the university has had a presence in Singapore since 2005. In 2015, it opened a brand-new campus in the city-state. This year, ESSEC opened its Africa-Atlantic campus in Morocco.
• The French campus is in Cergy-Pontoise is just a 45-minute train ride from Paris. Its proximity to Paris – a top culture and tourism capital of the world – affords students vast networking opportunities.
• The ESSEC MBA program requires students to select a major that they delve into at the start of the program. At the Paris campus, candidates can choose from Strategy & Management, Finance, Hospitality Management, and Luxury Brand Management; at the Singapore campus, candidates can major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Digital Business, or Strategy & Management
• The school’s MBA program is extremely young – it only launched in 2011 – and has yet to break into international rankings. But, the program’s unique specializations and ESSEC’s reputation as a top provider of management education both lay a strong foundation for the MBA program.

Application Tips from French B-School Admissions Directors

“Our class profile is quite experienced (average of 31 years of age and eight years of professional experience), so we tend to favor the quality of experience over GMAT scores. As our candidates hail from the world over, the GMAT is not always the strongest indicator of success. However it does give an indication of language and reasoning ability, and is an excellent warm up for an MBA.” -Nikki Harle, Marketing & Admissions Manager, EDHEC Business School

 “I think we want them [EM Lyon MBA students] to achieve the goals they set for themselves… If the goals they set for themselves are to start their own business we want to put them in the position to do that. Some people who came into the program a few years ago came in with some different ideas, they didn’t really know what they wanted to do but they knew they wanted to get the MBA. At the end of the program, as a result of one of the projects they worked on during the program, they started their own company… they make a non-invasive medical device, they’ve gotten about a million euros of funding to develop this, it’s in trials and they’re doing well. They came and they said, you know, how can we use this entrepreneurship thing and they made something that was really wonderful and valuable.” -Joseph LiPuma, former Director – International MBA Program, EM Lyon Business School

“[For essays] Students are coming into a very international environment, so any pointers towards an outward-looking mentality. If we find someone has never left their hometown through the essays, that’s a disadvantage.” -Phil Eyre, MBA Programs Director, Grenoble Ecole de Management

“INSEAD is quite tough on the academic evaluation, and that’s also because it’s a top program. It’s a very academically rigorous program, so the school doesn’t want to be admitting people who are going to fail. The idea is to admit people who are going to succeed on the program. Also, because it’s an intense program, there isn’t really time for people to arrive and take a long time to adjust to the pace. Because, when you arrive, you’ve got exams within eight weeks… They’re probably more risk-averse than a lot of other top MBA programs when it comes to the academic side. They’re less willing to take a chance on someone because experience shows that there is actually a correlation to the GMAT and how people do academically on the INSEAD MBA.” -Caroline Diarte Edwards, former Director of Admissions, INSEAD

“We are looking for smart students who have aptitude and a certain maturity. For the luxury specificity what we are also looking for is a mature interest in this industry… We will ask you [during the interview] why, trying to understand what kind of motivation, what has been your mindset about that… We expect that you have a mature project… You should do your homework, you should call and contact the alumni. Or the students of the class. If applicants ask, we don’t refuse to put you in contact with students. Do your homework. That’s my advice before the interview… Try to really find out what you want as much as possible.” -Denis Morisset, Director of Executive Luxury Marketing Program & former Executive Director of MBA in International Luxury Brand Management, ESSEC Business School

“We had to decide on a minimum GMAT score, it might seem unfair, but at some point, decisions have to be made, so it’s 600. So for someone having 590, we would recommend them not to apply. Overall, as Director of Admissions, I’m not too much of a GMAT focused person, meaning that every week in preselection juries we refuse people with GMAT of over 700… I highly recommend also candidates to get in touch and to engage in discussions with the current students, the current participants of HEC MBA, the faculty when possible but also to get in touch with the alumni or representatives as much as possible. And then they will refine their choices of potential schools and then they will be able in the essays and during the interviews to tell us why there is a real match between them and us and then it will be our job to see if this match goes the other way around..” -Philippe Oster, Director of Communications, HEC Paris

What’s it Really Like at Top French MBA Programs?

(click to get in-depth interviews with each school’s MBA Ambassador)

Join our Ambassador’s Forum to get the inside scoop from French MBA students and recent alumni.

“These two campuses [France and Singapore] are totally equal to each other in every respect. One is smaller than the other not because it’s a sister or a junior, but purely because of capacity constraints… In France, you get pretty close to those that you live with. A lot of people live in big houses with 10 people, these old-school really cool French maisons. Or, in castles. There are five or six legit castles… Groups form around who you live nearby and who you mostly interact with in your classes or your clubs or your sports.” -Rahul Kewalramani, Class of 2016, INSEAD

“Today, I work in the Healthcare division of GE, based in Paris, and manage a wide range of Radiology IT products all over Europe, Middle East and Africa. Coming from a technical background (previously electrical engineer), the MBA program has given me an extensive assortment of skills ranging from finance and economics, to negotiations, innovation management and intercultural management in order to get the job and excel in my current responsibilities.” -Georges Al Mouakar, Class of 2016, Grenoble Ecole de Management

“There’s a lot going on at EDHEC for an entrepreneur. We have the entrepreneurship club, the consulting club, and the data analytics club that I started up myself. Through those, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with alumni entrepreneurs, and we’ve had consultants come in and guide us through the process of setting up a business. We also have a startup incubator. I’ve set up a meeting with the director in the new year where I can present my business plan and he can walk me through how I could enter the market here.” -Winston Green, Class of 2017, EDHEC Business School

“Entrepreneurial Leadership Project (ELP) is not only about the knowledge, it is also about building professional connections and relationship with professionals from the organization you work for. Despite the fact that a lot of analysis, hard work and collaboration goes into final deliverables, there are only two key touch points when you meet the company and have full attention – at the intermediary and final presentation. This is where you need to shine, because this could be a ‘door-opening’ opportunity for you. I met my current manager during our final presentation. Our ELP project leader from company side invited several high level managers for our final presentation, and my manager was one of them. Yet this was just a beginning. It still took me a few month of follow-up emails, before I’ve heard that there might be an opportunity for me and some more time to make turn this opportunity in a real job. But currently I am there where I wanted to be when I joined MBA, and I’m here I am thanks to my ELP project.” -Natalja Avramenko, Class of 2016, EM Lyon Business School

“Given the rapid evolution taking place in the hospitality industry, some of the specific information you studied at ESSEC may have changed only two years later… But the way the professors make you think and challenge you will stay with you for life. This is what I value about my experience. I am now able to take very quick business decisions because things just make sense to me. I always justify everything I say, which is highly appreciated in the business environment and supports whatever actions you take.” -Christophe Hobeika, Class of 2012, ESSEC Business School

“In almost every class at the HEC Paris MBA you have to stand in front of other students and defend your interpretation of things. It’s a great way to learn public speaking. Moreover, there would usually be six other groups presenting and interpreting the same cases. Very quickly, you learn that there are multiple valid opinions on the same subject. One case study I particularly remember asked if L’Occitaine en Provence, the French cosmetics company, should expand into the lifestyle segment by opening up cafés. My group, which was mainly made up of North Americans, concluded no. Yet a group of Europeans, and students from India and from China, came up with a completely opposite approach, one which was equally valid. For me, that really emphasized how important it is to learn alongside a diverse group of students.” -Alexander Eldred, Class of 2016, HEC Paris

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Want a comprehensive picture of France’s leading MBA programs? Read below for a head-to-head comparison of schools with detailed info on admissions, curricula, job placements and more.

Head to Head

INSEAD MBA VS. HEC PARIS MBA VS. EDHEC MBA

GRENOBLE MBA VS. EM LYON MBA VS. ESSEC MBA

Last updated May 2017

INSEAD MBA vs. HEC Paris MBA vs. EDHEC MBA

Grenoble MBA vs. EM Lyon MBA vs. ESSEC MBA

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