Founded in 1881 by Gustave Emmanuel Roy, president of the Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCIP), with 57 students in its first class, the École des hautes études commerciales de Paris (HEC) aimed to be in the fields of management and commerce what the École Centrale de Paris was in the field of engineering.
In 1921, the school introduced the case-based method of the Harvard Business School, but most of the lectures remained theoretical. In 1938, the HEC program was lengthened to 3 years.
Due to French corporations' demand for North-American-style management education, at the end of the 1950s, the case-based method was generalized and a one-year classe préparatoire was created to prepare for the entrance examination, which had become more difficult. As a result, only 9% of HEC students had attended university in 1959, whereas 47% had done so in 1929.
In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle inaugurated a new 250-acre (1.0 km2) wooded campus in Jouy-en-Josas. In 1967, HEC launched its executive education programs. Women have been accepted at HEC since 1973. Only 27 women were accepted that year and HEC jeunes filles (HECJF), another school dedicated to women, was closed. Its alumnae are officially considered graduates of HEC, and include Édith Cresson, the first female Prime Minister of France.
The doctoral course was established in 1975 but until 1985 doctoral students had to complete their thesis at the university. In 1985 the HEC obtained the right to award the title of doctor, before ESSEC (2010)[11] and ESCP (2012).[12]
The school has developed professorships financed by companies (Deloitte, EDF, Toshiba and others) to multiply links between HEC and companies. The HEC Foundation, founded in 1972, has the specific aim of developing these connections and the financing of the school by companies.[13]
Ties with businesses were strengthened in the 1990s and this led to greater specialization, with the establishment of finance and entrepreneurship courses in 1986. As a consequence of the financial Big Bang and the explosion of the City, more and more graduates went to work in England and, in general, abroad. In 2006, a third found their first job abroad. In 2015 the school adopted a new legal statute to allow private investors to join the board of directors.[14]
On 1 July 2008, HEC Paris joined ParisTech and then Paris-Saclay University as a founding member. The university campus of Jouy-en-Josas, in the Yvelines department, is located in the northern part of the technological cluster of Paris-Saclay, which brings together a quarter of French public research. HEC Paris is part of the network of graduate schools of business (ESC) in the Paris Île-de-France area, together with ESSEC and ESCP Business School.
In 2016, the school adopted a new legal status and became a public-private partnership (École consulaire or EESC), largely financed by the public Chamber of Commerce in Paris.[15]
Higher education business degrees in France are organized into three levels thus facilitating international mobility: the Licence (Bachelor's), Master's, and Doctorate degrees. A Bachelor's degree requires the completion of 180 ECTS credits (bac + 3); a Master's, requires an additional 120 ECTS credits (bac + 5). HEC Paris offers a bachelor's degree since October 2023.[2]
Master in Management - Grande École program
Its highly coveted PGE (Programme Grande École or Grande École program) ends with the awarding of Master's in Management (MiM) degree.[55][56][57] Outside of the PGE, students at HEC can be awarded other master's degrees, such as the MBA (bac + 5), or a PhD (bac + 8).[2]
The MSc in International Finance is ranked #1 worldwide for pre-experience programs (2020 FT Rankings).[61]
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
The MBA program, created in 1969, has two intakes: September and January. HEC's MBA consists of a 16-month-long curriculum, with 8 months of core courses and 8 months of a customized program, including several specialization options, exchange programs, and fieldwork projects.[62] A typical class is composed of some 250 students – 90% of whom are international students – with more than 52 nationalities represented in the 2017 graduating class.[63] The selection process seeks a balance between academic achievement, professional experience, international exposure, and personal motivation. Knowledge of French is not an entry requirement, but participants are highly encouraged to have a basic knowledge of French by the start of the MBA Program, while mandatory (during the first two core terms) and optional language courses are offered throughout the program. Exchange and dual degree programs are offered with about 40 international partner business schools, including the Singapore Management University, HKUST, London Business School, Columbia Business School, Wharton, and Yale.[64][65]
Executive education
Executive MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Executive MSc Innovation & Entrepreneurship is a program created by HEC Paris and delivered partly on Coursera.[66] 100% online, it takes 18 months.[67] The first students were admitted in March 2017.[68]
Executive MBA
Formerly (until 2002) Centre de perfectionnement aux affaires,[69] the HEC Executive MBA is a program for top executives with a minimum of 8 years of corporate experience, which prepares them for general management positions (the average background experience of students is about 14 years). The Executive MBA is a multi-site program offered in Paris (France), Beijing (China), St Petersburg (Russia) and Doha (Qatar). The courses are split between theory, case studies, strategic projects, leadership training, EU community campus and foreign exchanges in the US and Asia. Program partnering universities are NYU, UCLA, Babson College in the US, Tsinghua University in China and Nihon University in Japan.[70]
HEC also offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with Stern School of Business of NYU and the London School of Economics.[71] It is divided into six modules that are held in five international business locations over 16 months.[72]
Classes préparatoires (French concours, students enter in L3)
5,151
382
7.4%
French dual degree (students from French partner institutions)
421
82
19.5%
Direct admissions (students enter in M1)
6,520
271
4.2%
Total
12,092
735
6%
MBA
Total
2,231
391
17.5%
Massive Online Open Courses
HEC Paris is also participating in the new wave of distance learning, by creating its own online training courses via MOOCs available on Coursera.[75]
Research and Entrepreneurship
HEC Paris has several centres of research:
HI! PARIS CENTER - A collaboration with the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris), this interdisciplinary and inter-institutional centre combines education, research and innovation to investigate the major challenges surrounding digital transformation and its impact on companies and society at large. This Center combines the 300 researchers and infrastructures of IP Paris and HEC Paris.[76]
Society & Organizations Institute - an interdisciplinary Institute that brings together over 60 professors to research, teach and implement ideas in sustainability and inclusion.[77]
GREGHEC - The Groupement de Recherche et d’Etudes en Gestion à HEC Paris is a joint research laboratory focused on economics and management in France.[78]
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute - 20 partnerships of excellence; 400 projects supported each year; an ecosystem of 400 professors, researchers and recognized experts.[79]
The school has been offering a degree in entrepreneurship for more than 40 years, by creating HEC Entrepreneurs in 1977,[80] which has today become the MSc X-HEC Entrepreneurs, in partnership with École Polytechnique.[81] Between 2004 and 2013, the percentage of entrepreneurs per class jumped from 10% to 25%.[82] In 2007,[83] HEC Paris created Incubateur HEC Paris, its startup incubator dedicated to supporting alumni-created startups. Currently directed by Antoine Leprêtre, the incubator has been part of the Station F campus since 2017.[84] Since 2017, the school has also an online Master's degree dedicated to this topic.[85]
Student life
Campuses
France
HEC is located on a 110-hectare campus in Jouy-en-Josas, 16 km. (10 miles) southwest of central Paris, close to Versailles. Jouy-en-Josas is served by the RER Parisian suburban train and the local bus service. The campus is built around a 19th-century château, which is currently used for Executive Education classes.[86]
Qatar
HEC Paris in Qatar
HEC Paris in Qatar is a remote campus of HEC Paris, located in Doha, the capital of Qatar.[87]
HEC Paris in Qatar is the result of an agreement between HEC Paris and the Qatar Foundation.[88]
HEC Paris in Qatar campus is located in the “Tornado Tower” in the heart of the “West Bay” financial centre of the city of Doha.[89]
HEC Qatar offers four types of programs, including an Executive MBA and a Mastère spécialisé program.[90]
The HEC UK House was inaugurated in March 2023. Close to Covent Garden, the campus is dedicated to the alumni network and conferences. It also has a library and a creative lab.[91]
Alumni association
The school alumni association, Association des diplômés HEC Paris, was founded in 1883 and gathers alumni of the different institutions of the HEC Group: École HEC Paris, MBA HEC Paris, HEC Paris Executive MBA, Mastères HEC Paris and Doctorat HEC Paris. Each degree is associated with a letter and the year of graduation. In 2017, HEC Alumni were ranked by The Economist as the 2nd most powerful business school alumni network in the world.[92]
