SETTLING IN - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette - page 186

for all universities in Paris, ask at the mairie for its booklet
Repertoire des Savoirs à Paris and look in the telephone
book under Université Paris .
Collège de France; a prestigious school founded in
1530. A research and teaching institution whose courses
are open to everyone without advance registration at
11 place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris 75005; tel: [phone];
01.44.27.11.09; website:http://www.college-de-france.fr.
The academic year runs from September to June, although
sometimes it can start as late as November. Application
for admission must be no later than 1 February, meaning
that you must request application forms several months
before. Forms and informational brochures on university
study should be available at the cultural section of French
embassies and consulates.
Degrees
The curriculum at all universities is highly regulated. A
stringent core curriculum takes up the first two years,
after which the Diplôme d'Etudes Universitaires Générales
(DEUG) is awarded, or at a technological university, the
Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie (DUT). After a third
year the license (degree) is awarded. Some business or
vocational programmes involve a postgraduate stage (training
internship). A maîtrise can be added to the license ; it requires
an added year of study and completion of a dissertation or
project and is roughly the equivalent of a Master's Degree.
Then the student has a choice between finishing these studies
with a more practical diploma called the Diplôme d'Etudes
Supérieures Spécialisées ( DESS ) or continuing toward a
doctorat (PhD) by preparing for a diploma called the Diplôme
d'Etudes Approfondies ( DEA ).
Qualifications
Any foreign student applying to a French university for a
degree programme must meet the stringent requirements of
the rigorous educational system in France. British students,
for example, must have their A-levels and American students