With Indian students representing the largest group of international students on its campuses, a 50% rise since 2020, EDHEC is aiming to strengthen its visibility in India.
“We recruit around 150 students per year from India, and currently have about 900 Indian students out of 10,000 international students on our campuses,” Richard Perrin, associate dean of international relations, EDHEC Business School, told The PIE News.
“During the past three [to] five years, we have spent a lot of our energy and resources to host and welcome Indian students. And now what we are trying to do is kind of accelerate that relationship we have with the market.”
During the past three [to] five years, we have spent a lot of our energy and resources to host and welcome Indian students
Richard Perrin, EDHEC Business School
EDHEC, which has academic campuses in Lille, Nice, and Paris, has previously established executive campuses serving as research centres in London and Singapore in the last decade or so.
While the centre in Singapore helps EDHEC develop research programs with major financial corporations, including Deutsche Bank, Amundi, and Eurex, the London facility hosts the PhD in Finance program, and immersion visits for EDHEC students.
Rather than building a campus in India – a move encouraged among French institutions by various stakeholders – EDHEC is expecting to set up a not-for-profit section 8 company in India.
“We have the objective of developing four main verticals through our non-profit set up. The first one would be to broaden our base and contacts in the corporate world, which includes French companies in India but also Indian corporations,” said Perrin.
“Our second ambition is to recruit more Indian students with an engineering background as we have launched a couple of programs in the past few years, which require a strong quantitative background. For example we have a MiM in data science and AI, which we have been running for the past two years, and know that in India we can tap into fantastic talent.”
The French institution, which holds triple accreditation, has set up incubators within its campuses in Lille and Nice, and is a part of one of the largest startup campuses in the world, Station F in Paris.
The main mission of the incubator is to support EDHEC students and graduates who have a business creation project.
With India being the third-largest market for startups and unicorns, which is a privately-owned startup valued at over $1 billion, EDHEC is also looking to explore India’s entrepreneurial environment.
“We believe entrepreneurship can be the new frontier for international cooperation. Let’s say a student has a project on luxury management in their startup, then they would be able to come to EDHEC, and benefit from all the consulting services we provide. They will also have access to VCs locally and so forth. This will also be beneficial for French students planning to tackle the Indian market,” said Perrin.
The institute is also looking to encourage fundraising activities among its alumni members in India, after successful stints in France and the UK.
“We want to start expanding with a lot of modesty but with ambition in India. We need ofcourse the physical vehicle to do that. We hope to open this structure by the end of 2025.”
Though the school has not decided on a location in India for its strategic hub, Perrin suggested that a lot of the new changes would happen in Mumbai either through a joint venture or independently.
The institution has also partnered with major Indian institutions for exchange and double degree programs.
“We have 13 exchange partners all across India, most of them being Indian Institutes of Management. We additionally work with the Indian School of Business, SP Jain, MDI. We already have approximately 40 students who come to India for exchange programs, for one semester or a year, per year,” said Perrin.
EDHEC also recently partnered with SPJIMR as part of its 2024/25 Global Impact Project, which allowed students to spend a semester abroad with an NGO.
“For instance, in India, we have about ten students right now working with NGOs concerning water supply in a remote village, schooling young students who are disabled, and really creating a positive impact in the society.”
With French President Emmanuel Macron announcing France’s aim to target 30,000 Indian students by 2030, French officials in India have been doing educational outreach activities in the past few years.
Moreover, France is expected to attract 10,000 Indian students this academic year, as previously reported by The PIE.
“The pressure to attract Indian students is not on the business schools or engineering schools in France as we are already recruiting a lot of Indian students,” said Emmanuel Métais, Dean, EDHEC Business School.
“The pressure will be on the French university system, as most of them teach most of their programs in French instead of English. So when Macron was talking about achieving the target, we believe he was talking about the university system.”
Though efforts like Classes Internationales and short-stay Schengen visas are expected to garner more interest in France, challenges concerning study visas remain.
According to Perrin, country managers play an important role in tackling any visa problems faced by students in certain cases.
“We do always try to work with officials and understand the delays behind visa approvals but our objective always remains to recruit the right students.”
As EDHEC strives to bring more international students to its campuses, especially from India, the institution has also introduced scholarships in the region.
“We have seen that if we want to attract quality, we will also have to reward quality. We offer scholarships based on merit, and have one such program called the Academic Excellence Scholarship and also have a partnership with the French Embassy in India, wherein we offer 50% tuition waiver scholarships for MiM students,” said Nilesh Gaikwad, country manager in India, EDHEC.
“We are also the only French business school that offers a dedicated French language scholarship. This means that when students receive an offer from us, we actively encourage them to start learning French.”
EDHEC also recently launched its online MBA program aimed at international students.
“Our goal has always been to ensure the online program is as valuable and impactful as those offered on campus, providing students with the same level of academic and career opportunities,” said Metais.
“We have seamlessly integrated courses into this program that are aligned with our research centers, focusing on critical topics such as net positive business, waste management, and climate finance.”
The institution also recently launched Generations 2050, which promises to educate students on how to transform business to reduce carbon emissions, protect biodiversity, and create a healthy future for all.
EDHEC is investing €270m in its strategic plan, including developing new net-positive businesses and supporting existing businesses in transitioning to cleaner, more sustainable operations.
“Our goal is to empower investors to accurately calculate the true impact of climate change on their assets. To this end, we’ve established a dedicated center in Singapore focused on infrastructure assets, which are among the most vulnerable to climate risks,” said Metais.
“At the same time, we aim to guide investors in making informed portfolio decisions that not only mitigate risks but also maximize positive contributions to climate change solutions.”
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