Elitist degree shows mettle

The French university system's deliberately elite magistre degree is a huge success, according to the academic audit body, the Comite National d'Evaluation.

The magistre was created ten years ago to provide a university equivalent of the grandes ecoles' five-year courses. It has a strong research bias and students would expect to move into research or into a service sector profession.

Universities were allowed to select students at the end of their second year for a demanding three-year course leading to the magistre degree. This differs sharply from the non-selective system whereby students automatically move up when they have successfully completed each year.

Most magistre courses have fewer than 30 students each year. A high proportion of those selected left school with a starred baccalaureat, many went into preparatory class for the grandes ecoles, most have the scientific baccalaureat.

"The students are extremely motivated, aware of the privilege of being treated differently, in spite of the high level of demands on them and the work load of the course," reports the CNE.

Academic staff are equally motivated, not only by the level of academic excellence achieved through selection, but also by the opportunity to work in "imaginative and innovative teaching units".

The magistres' survival is due to the strong attachment of students and teachers, says the report. After launching the degree in 1989, the education ministry stopped giving new course accreditation and ended specific resources.

The CNE recommends the government give the degrees full support. "On an international level, the magistres would be better understood if they were called 'master research degrees'," it argues.

Course enrolment should stand at around 12 to 15 students, the report says. It recommends regular follow-up of students' careers and fuller involvement of professionals in businesses and industries.

But the magistre's ambiguous status as a state-accredited university degree rather than a state degree is its biggest problem. In order to have a recognised national qualification, many students sit another degree and the combination often leads to "unuseful repetition or confusion", says the CNE.

The degree also suffers from the general mood of the times. The pressure on resources and demand for equal access to higher education has in many cases made these elite courses something of an embarrassment. "Magistres must not be reduced to a quasi-clandestine existence. Universities which have magistres can be proud of them . . . and must either give them real and full support, or close them down," concludes the CNE.

The absence of reactions from university presidents to the CNE survey appears to reflect that embarrassment.