There are times like that, when you need to be a little more accompanied. It was in the middle of the France of the oral business schools that Benoît had a car accident. "It was on the side of Clermont, at the beginning of my journey, recounts the student. I had a whole program to go to other establishments but didn't want to go anymore. I liked the one in Clermont, so I stayed." Clermont Business School is ready to welcome this rather brilliant student from preparatory classes, but he still faces a challenge: financing his studies. To do this, it plays on three levers. "Integrating a good training helped me to make a loan to the bank with a low interest rate, less than 1%," he begins. In addition, he has had a Crous scholarship for several years, which pays him for his apartment "and even a little more".
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For the rest, the school grants him another scholarship via his foundation, for an amount of around 1500 euros per year. Even if this proves to be enough to make ends meet, the student looks forward to next year. "I will be alternating, which will relieve me suddenly," he says. He will then have zero tuition fees to pay and will receive a salary.
Decreases of 20 to 75% depending on the case
If there is social openness, it is apparently not through the reduction of tuition fees that it passes. Because these are increasing, inexorably. The most expensive Grande Ecole Programme today – HEC Paris – exceeds the staggering sum of 50,000 euros for the three years. In order to reach audiences from modest backgrounds, each establishment has its own devices. Almost all of them have a foundation that distributes scholarships or can alleviate the occasional financial difficulties of their students. But it is not always easy to prove to high school students that they can join a Business School. "We have a hard time meeting scholarship students who rarely come to see us at orientation fairs or during our open days," says Véronique Béclié, Director of Corporate and External Relations at SCBS (South Champagne Business School). Some do not imagine for a second integrating this type of course, either by self-censorship or by ignorance of the financial mechanisms that could be granted to them. "Our goal is to tell them: it's possible for you!" she insists.
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Crous scholarship levels exist
From 0 to 7, they correspond to sums ranging from 1,084 to 7,158 euros per year
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At Edhec (Lille, Nice, Paris), for example, one in four students benefits from tuition fee relief, calculated according to the level of Crous scholarship to which they are entitled. The bill can thus be reduced by 20 to 75% depending on the case. But self-censorship is played out even earlier in schooling, so this year, Edhec is launching Talents Prépa, a scheme designed to support 50 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds for six months. The objective is to help them succeed in their competition, via a free tutoring program, workshops to prepare for orals, etc.
Retaining talent
The Y Schools group, to which SCBS belongs, is interested in brilliant students from the territories in which it is based: Haute-Marne, Ardennes, Aube and Moselle. "In these largely rural departments, the culture is rather to move to study. However, we want these young people to stay! " explains Véronique Béclié. With the support of local authorities and a club of corporate sponsors, the group has launched the Y Not program, which has about sixty scholarships to distribute. To obtain them, it is necessary to go through a selection established according to three criteria: to have his tax household in the department where the training is provided, to be endowed with a very solid academic record (mention very well in the baccalaureate or 16 of general average) and to be a young person engaged. "This can involve working in an association, as a volunteer firefighter, or any mission to serve their community," says Véronique Béclié.
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If they do not justify such actions and their training wishes to welcome them anyway, these students will have to get involved, from the beginning of their schooling, in an association working locally or within their school. "It is an exchange that must nourish the life of the territory and fertilize it," explains Véronique Béclié.