Grands établissements in the context of Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques

Sciences Po (French pronunciation: [sjɑ̃s po]) or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that 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.

The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (French: École des hautes études en sciences sociales, EHESS) is a graduate grande école and grand établissement in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjointly with the grandes écoles École normale supérieure, École polytechnique, and École pratique des hautes études.

Originally a department (Section VI) of the École pratique des hautes études, created in 1868 with the purpose of training academic researchers, the EHESS became an independent institution in 1975. Today its research covers social sciences, humanities, and applied mathematics. Degrees and research in economics and finance are awarded through the Paris School of Economics.

PSL University (PSL or in French Université PSL, for Paris Sciences et Lettres) is a Grand établissement based in Paris, France. It was established in 2010 and formally created as a university in 2019. It is a collegiate university with 11 constituent schools, with the oldest founded in 1530. PSL is located in central Paris, with its main sites in the Latin Quarter, at the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève Campus, at the Jourdan Campus, at Dauphine Campus, at Condorcet Campus, and at Carré Richelieu.

PSL awards Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD diplomas for its constituent schools and institutes. It offers an education based on research and interdisciplinary instruction, and its 17,000 students have access to a broad range of disciplines in science, engineering, humanities, social sciences, fine art and performing arts.

Paris Dauphine University - PSL (French: Université Paris Dauphine - PSL) is a Grande École and public institution of higher education and research based in Paris, France, constituent college of PSL University. As of 2022, Dauphine has 9,400 students in 8 fields of study (law, economics, finance, computer science, journalism, management, mathematics, social sciences), plus 3,800 in executive education. Its status as a grand établissement, adopted in 2004, allows it to select its students. On average, 90 to 95% of accepted students received either high distinctions or the highest distinctions at their French High School National Exam results (Examen National du Baccalauréat). Dauphine is also a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles.

Research at Dauphine concerns "organization and decision sciences", organized in 6 research laboratories (5 of which are mixed units also staffed by CNRS researchers): the CEREMADE Center for Research in Decision Mathematics, the CR2D Dauphine Law Research Center, DRM Dauphine Management Research, the IRISSO Interdisciplinary Research Institute in Social Science, the LAMSADE Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Decision Support Systems, and the LEDa Dauphine Economics Laboratory. A total of 519 research staff work at Dauphine.

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃stity nɑsjɔnal de lɑ̃ɡ e sivilizɑsjɔ̃ ɔʁjɑ̃tal]; transl. "National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations"), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania. With 104 languages taught as of 2024, this institution is currently the world's largest provider of language training courses.

It is also informally called "Langues’O" (French: [lɑ̃ɡz‿o]) in French, an abbreviation for Langues orientales.