“It was the best thing for me to do!”
» Romane did all her post-baccalaureate education on a work-study basis.
First a BTS, then a professional degree in Ethical Marketing and Communication, at the University of Paris-Saclay, which she discovered by chance.
“At the time, I didn’t know that we could do work-study studies at university.
Thanks to this, I was able to discover professions that I would never have suspected, both in the public sector in the Yvelines department and in the private sector in the automobile sector.
»
The testimonies are unanimous: it is a way to acquire maturity and professional experience.
In 2022, 837,000 contracts were signed, almost three times more than in 2012. Among them, 68% of students are over 20 years old.
Presented as being a response to the strong demand from students, which corresponds to a need from businesses, work-study training is on the rise even in the corridors of universities and other public establishments.
Read also Work-study training: everything you need to know about the pace, registrations, remuneration
“Our number of work-study students has increased 2.5 times in five years.
The number of our training courses has increased from 47 in 2021 to 65 today and 70 next year!
» says Stéphane Soulez, vice-president in charge of work-study programs at the University of Lyon II (Rhône), a faculty of human and social sciences.
A response to (strong) demand
The teacher opened a tourism master's degree in continuing education in 2021 and by surveying his master 1 students, he realized that 80% of the students were up for an alternation in master 2. At the start of the 2024 school year, the university will open other master's degrees on the same principle, from specialized justice commissioner law to intellectual property law, including the law of digital activities and trusted third parties.
Better yet, “we are also experimenting with opening the 3rd year of the license to work-study programs with the Eco-management license and the LEA English – Spanish license,” adds Stéphane Soulez.
A plethora of options that can be found almost everywhere in public establishments in France.
“Apprenticeship is popular with students and they would like other training to be open,” agrees Ronan Le Graët, director of continuing education at Sciences-po Bordeaux (Gironde).
“They find it boring to only be at school, and want to be in the real world,” explains Christophe Collet, who directs the Technology University of Troyes (Aube), in which three new courses have been opened for learning last September, twelve years after the first.
“Students are looking at how they can enter the job market”
Ronan Le Graët, director of continuing education at Sciences Po Bordeaux
As for the IUTs, which traditionally have more work-study training, the same story.
“We are surprised by the success that our courses have had as soon as they open up to work-study programs,” notes Stéphane Ropiquet, teacher at the IUT Grand Ouest Normandie, which has 900 apprenticeship contracts over three years of BUT (Bachelor university of technology).
Especially since in addition to allowing them to attract ever more students, the principle of training makes public establishments competitive.
“It’s a request from young people.
They heard about apprenticeships in business schools, which pushed us to open one,” explains Ronan Le Graët.
“In the larger higher education market, students are looking at how they can enter the job market.
»
A good integration rate
Present on the Parcoursup sheets as well as in people's minds when making their wishes or applying for a master's degree, the training integration rate is scrutinized by students.
Stéphane Soulez, from Lyon II University, is clear: “It is a more effective tool for professional integration than a simple internship.
»
In the same class, integration is also better for work-study students than for continuing education students.
At the IAE (Institute of Business Administration) in Aix-Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), “these students are generally between 93 and 96% in employment within one to three months after their diploma .
For single apprentices, we are close to 100%,” explains Isabelle Bordenave, head of corporate relations and continuing education development.
Registered at the IAE, Aurélie has just started her second master 2 on a work-study basis, after a bachelor's degree, then a master 1 in law at the University of Aix-en-Provence and a master 2 on a work-study basis as well.
“It was quite rare to have professional masters in law, it is a purely theoretical subject”, underlines the young woman who won her contract at the National Sports Center of La Défense (CNSD) in Fontainebleau (Seine-et -Marne), to the legal department and to the administrative and financial department.
“Our teachers – some of whom are qualified – are truly excellent”
Aurélie, work-study at IAE Aix-Marseille
Once her Master 2 in hand, Aurélie moved on to another Master's degree in general management coupled with a Master of Science from the IAE in Aix Marseille.
“I wanted to stay at university: it’s less expensive than a business school and the quality of teaching is almost identical!
I was looking for a well-known master's degree, the one from IAE Aix-Marseille was ideal.
» This year, her work-study program is at the CEA (Atomic Energy Commission) in Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhône), where she is a buyer in a department which manages “everything relating to logistics equipment and service provision above 40,000 euros.
If she is delighted on the business side, she is just as delighted about the teachings of her master's degree.
“Our teachers – some of whom are qualified – are really excellent, we have doctoral students and the speakers have a lot of experience and very good reputations in their respective subjects, whether it is financial analysis, sociology or management !
»
No problem finding a company
A quality which allows him to have found his contracts without a hitch.
“In our master's degree in law, we were helped, we had follow-up with our tutors.
For the work-study program at the CEA, I applied for an offer offered by the IAE.
» To satisfy their students, public establishments are increasing contacts with businesses and taking care of their networks.
If Aurélie chose the CEA, she could also have applied to Airbus or Thalès, other offers offered by the IAE network.
Also read: Work-study: it’s time to find your business!
At the University of Lyon II, we are also developing a network of partner companies.
“It’s a form of prerequisite for us,” explains Stéphane Soulez.
For a master's degree to open on a work-study basis, you need a letter of support from the economic environment.
We then send the offers we receive to our students.
» And even in college, the competition is tough.
“At the UFR of Eco-management sciences at Lyon II, we must be attractive, because we have training in banking and finance, like other schools,” analyzes Stéphane Soulez.
Fortunately, companies don't focus so much on the school as on the student's profile.
For her work-study program in environmental management and CSR at Paris-Saclay University, Romane had no difficulty finding a company: “My manager looked at the skills, not the school!
»
Financial question
Another advantage for students who choose a work-study program at university: the possibility of continuing their course free of charge.
After a financially accessible start to training, they are free to finance their daily life thanks to the work-study salary.
Aurélie had done her sums before choosing her course and turning to the IAE, which still cost her 2,000 euros.
Despite everything, “some training courses are very famous, I didn't see the point of spending 8,000 euros for a year of study at school.
That would have forced me to take out a student loan.”
Often accessible in the last year of the course, you must be able to finance the first years before taking off financially.
In IUT, “you pay for registration according to your parents' resources, i.e. around a hundred euros, and the rest is free, this allows you to do a bac + 3 without the slightest cost for the student or for the parents” , underlines Florian, a former IUT student and now responsible for school business relations within the CPME Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
“It’s a way to have remuneration that you can be sure of, for two or three years”
Marie-Hélène Toutin, teacher-researcher at Cereq
At Sciences-po Bordeaux, we observe that the reasons for students who choose a work-study program are also financial.
“We have 30% of scholarship holders who pay no registration fees and whose family situation is not easy.
Receiving a salary, around 1,200 euros, is one of the arguments in favor of the system,” explains Ronan Le Graët, director of continuing education and apprenticeship at Sciences-po Bordeaux.
Especially since financing your studies with a small job and your apprenticeship course is not the same thing.
“It’s a way to have remuneration that you can be sure of, for two or three years,” explains Marie-Hélène Toutin.
“In this case, the students have missions related to the training followed, it is well organized and the training knows that you have both.
Whereas if you do a job on the side to finance your studies, this is not necessarily known to the administration and you are asked to be 100% but you can't!
It's a real professional line that makes sense in your CV.
If you are a night watchman, we will see that you are courageous, but that will not have any meaning in your professional life.
»
New social elevator?
" Yes !
», confirms Christophe Collet of the UTT, “and we are very attached to it”.
In Lyon II, where “by nature, a majority of our students are in difficulty and have a scholarship, clearly a certain number have chosen work-study, because they could not afford their studies and would stop at bac + 2 or bac + 3,” concludes Stéphane Soulez.