Sciences Po, Home to a Vibrant International Community

The international dimension constitutes one of the strongest assets of our educational programmes.

For many years now, Sciences Po has been committed to pursuing an ambitious international policy. A member of numerous university alliances, the institution has a total of 478 partner universities worldwide. Sciences Po comes in high in international rankings, most notably in the QS World University Rankings By Subject 2021 where it ranks 2nd worldwide for ‘Politics and International Studies’. Read below about some of the ways you can internationalise your curriculum at Sciences Po.

Follow a curriculum entirely in English

Sciences Po offers certain programmes taught entirely in English. Mastery of the French language is therefore not a prerequisite.

At the undergraduate level, the Euro-American, Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean and Euro-Asian programmes are taught entirely in English. It is the same for the international dual bachelor’s programmes with Columbia University, Keio University, National University of Singapore, University of British Columbia, University of California Berkeley, University College London, University of Hong Kong and the University of Sydney, all of which are taught in English.

At the graduate level, 20 master’s programmes are offered in English, which are complemented by the 32 dual master’s programmes with international universities, and five one-year master’s programmes.

It is also possible to pursue doctoral studies in English, with the Doctorate in Economics. 

Finally, the Sciences Po Summer School offers intensive summer programmes in English to high school students, university students and graduates from around the world. 

Experience a multicultural student community

The academic community of Sciences Po is unique for its multiculturalism. Every year, Sciences Po hosts nearly 7,000 international students, representing over 150 nationalities. Indeed, 49% of our students hold a non-French passport.

Deepen the understanding of a geographical zone

The regional campuses, which host our undergraduate programme and its common core curriculum, have geographical specialisations. Students learn more about the challenges of specific geographical zones:

• Central and Eastern Europe on the Dijon campus
• Asia on the Le Havre campus
• The Middle-East and Mediterranean on the Menton campus
• Europe and the Franco-German region on the Nancy campus
• Latin America, Spain and Portugal on the Poitiers campus
• North America or Africa on the Reims campus

These campuses are home to an international and multicultural community welded and enlivened by an intense intellectual and community life.

Learn foreign languages

Language instruction forms an integral part of the fundamental education given to Sciences Po students.

25 languages are taught at Sciences Po: Arabic, Chinese, English, French as a second language for non-francophone students, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and French Sign Language (LSF), as well as the languages specific to the regional campuses: Swahili, Persian, Indonesian, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Czech and Romanian.

Study abroad

At Sciences Po, all undergraduate students spend their third year abroad, either pursuing an internship or studying on exchange at one of our partner universities.

Participating in an international exchange programme is the best way to learn about another country and its people. Thanks to 478 partnership agreements established with universities worldwide, undergraduate students embark on a year-long exchange programme during the final year of their Bachelor’s degree. Students must validate the number of credits equivalent to what they would have received during an academic year in France.

Among our 478 partner universities are UC Berkeley (USA), University of Cambridge (UK), Columbia University (USA), Freie Universitat Berlin (Germany), Fudan University (China), Keio University (Japan), London School of Economics (UK), MGIMO (Russia), University of British Columbia (Canada), University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), National University of Singapore (Singapore) and the University of Sydney (Australia), and many more.

Master’s students also have the possibility of spending a semester abroad at an international partner university, within over 100 university departments on offer.

Sciences Po also promotes the exposure of doctoral and postdoctoral students to international research networks under the exchange programme for doctoral students.

Follow a dual degree programme

These study abroad programmes, lasting between 12 and 24 months, allow students to have a unique international experience and open doors to the academic specialisations of each institution, all while combining their strengths. These programmes also boost employability in the host country and give students the opportunity to acquire specialisations that are often complementary to the studies offered at Sciences Po.

Sciences Po offers 9 international dual degree programmes at the bachelor’s level and more than 30 at the master’s level.

Students can pursue a dual bachelor’s or a dual master’s programme, allowing them to obtain degrees from the partner universities in addition to that of Sciences Po. 

Meet international public figures from the political, economic, and academic worlds

Each year, over 600 events are organised on our campuses. These include conferences with international public figures from the worlds of politics, economics and academia. Among our most recent visitors are Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the General Assembly of the UN; Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary-General of the UN; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Condoleeza Rice, former Secretary of State of the US; Sheryl Sandberg, Director of Operations at Facebook; Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google; Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning American economist; and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.

Benefit from the contributions of heavily internationalised research

At Sciences Po, over 250 researchers in the humanities and social sciences study the transformations of the contemporary world and their challenges. A third of the members of the newly-recruited permanent faculty completed their PhD at a university abroad. 

The research programmes at Sciences Po are selected by international public agencies and are regularly recognised by European Research Council Grants and the National Agency of Research in France. 

Start an international career after graduation

37% of Sciences Po graduates begin their professional career outside of France, according to the Employability survey of the Class of 2019. This strong internationalisation is linked in part to international students who return to their countries of origin, but also concerns French students who make up 21% of those who find their first job abroad. The Sciences Po community is also made up of an influential community of 90,000 alumni worldwide.

More information

• Undergraduate Studies
• Graduate Studies
• Research at Sciences Po