Top 10 MBA Programs in France

France is one of the places that is known not just for art, architecture, and history but also for the bustling economy and international investments they make in business. The country has an influx of international students, tourists, and businessmen making it an ideal place for candidates to study a business or management-related course. The country also has the world’s 6th largest economy providing fresh MBA graduates with great prospects.

The most ideal location for candidates to study for MBA in the country would be the capital city of Paris which is bustling with activity throughout the year. But the country does offer a lot of options when it comes to this professional course. They offer specializations in every field possible and candidates choose their course not accordingly to the location of the campus but the specializations and placements they provide. The top 10 programs offered in the country are as follows-

HEC Paris MBA Program

This university provides candidates with a 16-month MBA program that has five specializations from which candidates can choose one of their interests. Candidates will be able to customize parts of the program by choosing different electives, going for international exchanges, attending career-building sessions, etc. The program is one of the best offered in the country with an alumni network full of influential people that are active in the community.

The two sections of the program include a Fundamental Phase and a Customized Phase. The former includes core courses and language study whereas the latter can be customized by the candidate. The program has two intakes in a year which are in September and January. Every class will have 290 students who are from 60 different nations. The tuition fee of the program is € 76,000.

INSEAD MBA Program

INSEAD is a business school that has its roots spread out in different countries across the world. They have campuses in France, Singapore, and even Abu Dhabi which implies that candidates will always have the option of transferring to another location if they desire to do so. This program has two intakes in a year are in September and January. The programs require 10-months of in-class instruction and candidates will be provided with a 2-month break to do their summer internship. Candidates are required to have work experience of 3-8 years.

The 14 core courses they provide include Financial Accounting, Financial Markets and Valuation, Prices and Markets, Uncertainty, Data and Judgement, and Introduction to Strategy which forms the first part of the course. They also provide over 75 electives, which is in the second part of the course, for candidates from which they will be able to choose their specialization. The fee for the program is € 89,000.

EDHEC Business School-Global MBA

This campus offers candidates with options of Executive MBA, Global MBA, EDHEC International MBA, and other graduate programs out of which the Global MBA is ranked highest. The Global MBA program has a duration of 10 months and has only one intake in a year which is in September. The program requires candidates to have a minimum work experience of 7 years.

The specializations offered include International Finance, Global Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Digital Innovation. They also offer candidates with elective options in subjects like Macroeconomics, Sales, Business Development, Advanced Corporate Finance, etc. The tuition fee of the program is €46,000 excluding the business trips and expeditions that candidates will have to go on as part of the program.

ESCP Business School

This business school is located in Paris but they have five other campuses in Madrid, London, Turin, Warsaw, and Berlin. It is a private university that offers an MBA in International Management as a full-time course. Candidates are required to have a minimum work experience of 3 years to enroll in the program. The duration of the course is 10 months which is split into 2 semesters. Candidates are provided with the opportunity of studying in two countries of their choice in these semesters.

During the program, they will have to do two company consultancy projects in these two countries. The program offers over 24 electives which include Negotiation Dynamics, Social Entrepreneurship, Organizational Transformation, etc. The core courses include International HRM, Corporate Finance, Strategic Leadership, etc. The application fee for the program is €180 and the tuition fee for the entire program excluding adjacent costs is € 47,000.

ESSEC Business School-Global MBA

This business school is located in Pontoise in France and they also have campuses in Morocco and Singapore. They offer a Global MBA, ESSEC Executive MBA, ESSEC & Mannheim EMA- European Track, and ESSEC & Mannheim EMA-Asia Pacific programs for candidates out of which the Global MBA ranks highest. The program has a duration of 12 months in all and has only one intake in a year which is in September. Candidates are required to have 6 years of work experience.

The two majors offered in the course are Strategy & Digital Leadership, and Luxury Brand Management. Candidates will be able to benefit from the various company visits, networking events, career fairs, etc. that the campus provides. The fee for the program remains the same for both majors and is € 49,500 with an additional application fee of € 130. ESSEC provides candidates with a lot of scholarship and loan options.

EM Lyon Business School-International MBA

This business school is located in Lyon. They offer both International MBA and Executive MBA out of which the former ranks highest. The duration of the course is 12 months and requires candidates to have a minimum work experience of 3 years. The course is taught in English but requires candidates to be fluent in at least 2 languages. Candidates can choose specializations from a list of functional and contextual specializations where there are subjects like Digitalization, Life Sciences, Strategy, Marketing, etc.

The core courses are split into 4 categories each of which has 5 courses that will create an educational base for the candidate. These 4 categories are Strategy and Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, International Organizational Behavior, and Finance and Economics. The tuition fee for the program is € 38,500 and the program has an application fee of € 120.

NEOMA Business School MBA

This campus offers a full-time and part-time MBA out of which the full-time MBA has been ranked amongst the 22 best programs in Europe. It has also been ranked amongst the top 5 MBA programs in France by the Financial Times. The duration of the program is 1 year and has only one intake in a year which is in September. Candidates are required to have a minimum of 3 years of work experience to enroll in the course.

The course includes an entrepreneurial development project, debates, and conferences, international consulting projects, French courses, leadership seminars, global study tours, etc. The tuition fee of the program is estimated to be around € 36,000. The school offers a number of scholarship programs that candidates can receive if they submit a complete scholarship application form.

SKEMA Business School-Global Executive MBA

This is an Executive MBA program offered with a duration of 18-24 months on a part-time basis. The program has a blended format with most of the classes being held online and students also having residential weeks. The classes held will be in Paris, Raleigh, Suzhou, and Belo Horizonte with students being able to spend one week in each location. They focus on experiential learning and candidates will have a capstone project to complete as part of the course.

The program will focus on leadership, management, finance, etc., and is mainly provided for senior managers, project directors, entrepreneurs, etc. The tuition fee for the program is € 38,000.

Grenoble Ecole de Management- MBA

This program has a duration of 2 years in all with the first and second years having different structures. The first year of the program is split into phase 1 of core courses and phase 2 or specializations. The core courses include Networking, Career, and Alumni Associations, Geopolitics, Managerial Accounting, Auditing, Intercultural Management, Risk Management, etc. In the second phase, candidates will be able to customize 20% of their course through the 8 specializations they offer. The specializations include International Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Smart and Sustainable Business, Management Consulting, Finance, and Digital Banking, etc.

The second year of the program includes case studies, the study of foreign languages, study trips, personality development workshops, etc. which will enable candidates to make use of the information they learned in the first year. The program requires candidates to have 3 years of work experience before they can enroll. The tuition fee of the program is € 31,950.

Montpellier Business School

The Montpellier Business School offers candidates an Executive MBA program that targets senior managers, directors, and entrepreneurs. The program is taught in French and has a duration of 20 months on a part-time basis. Candidates will have classes for 3 to 4 days a month. It will be a combination of face-to-face and distance learning which will work best with the schedules of the target audience. Candidates are required to have above 5 years of work experience to apply for the course.

The core courses offered include strategy, digital marketing, financial management, etc. and the specializations offered include entrepreneurship and transformation which act as the two majors the candidate can choose from. Candidates will also have a capstone project to work on as part of the course. The cost of the program is estimated to be around € 30,500.