A grande école is a selective French elite institution, separate from the public university system. Grandes écoles de business train future managers and entrepreneurs, with a strong brand and an influential alumni network. ESSEC, founded in 1907, is one of the most respected business schools in Europe, with triple accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA) and a Master in Management consistently in the global top 10 of the Financial Times. For a Romanian student, ESSEC offers an international brand, teaching in English through the Global BBA and access to a global career network.

The Grande École program (which leads to the Master in Management) is the classic French route, usually accessed through a competitive exam after the prépa years (French preparatory classes) or through master's-level admissions. It is not the practical path for a Romanian high-school graduate.

The Global BBA is the program that suits you: a 4-year (240 ECTS) bachelor's degree, entirely in English, which you apply to directly after the Baccalaureate (post-bac), without prépa. It includes international mobility, internships and the option to spend periods at the Singapore campus.

The Global BBA at the Cergy campus costs around EUR 16,500 per year (2026-2027 academic year), so roughly EUR 60,000-EUR 66,000 over all 4 years in tuition alone. At the Singapore campus the fees are expressed in dollars and are higher.

Note: ESSEC is a private school, so you do not get the symbolic statutory EU fees of a French public university. On top of tuition you add accommodation and living in the Paris region (around EUR 10,000-EUR 15,000 per year). ESSEC merit scholarships can significantly reduce tuition.

ESSEC awards merit scholarships open to international applicants, based on the academic file and profile. The ESSEC scholarship reaches up to around EUR 10,000 and is applied directly to tuition. There are also other scholarships specific to a campus or region.

In addition to ESSEC scholarships, as a Romanian you can combine them with study loans from banks and possible scholarship programs from Romania. Recommendation: apply in the winter round, because applying early increases both your chances of admission and of receiving a larger merit scholarship.

ESSEC looks at your transcripts from the last 3 years of high school and your Baccalaureate diploma, with an emphasis on mathematics and on the consistency of your results. A competitive profile has a good overall average (indicatively a Baccalaureate average of 8.5 plus) and solid grades in quantitative subjects.

For language you need TOEFL iBT 90 plus, IELTS 6.5 plus or TOEIC 850 plus (the requirement may be waived if you completed your last 2 years of high school in English). Some tracks may also require an aptitude test (for example the SAT or an ESSEC test), plus motivation essays, a CV and the video interview.

Yes, the Global BBA is taught entirely in English, so you do not need French to follow the courses. This is one of the big differences from the classic programs of French public universities, which are in French.

Still, we recommend learning French along the way: it helps enormously for daily life in the Paris region, for internships at French companies and for social integration. ESSEC usually offers French courses for international students.

No. As a Romanian citizen you are an EU citizen, and France is part of the European Union, so you do not need a study visa to study at the Cergy campus. You can move and enroll freely, with your ID card or passport.

Note, however: the absence of a visa does not mean reduced fees. Since ESSEC is private, you pay grande école tuition regardless of citizenship. For the Singapore campus, the visa rules are different (Singapore not being in the EU) and are handled separately by ESSEC.

Graduates of a grande école de business generally have very strong career placement: consulting, finance, marketing, tech, entrepreneurship and international roles. ESSEC has a network of more than 70,000 alumni and partnerships with global companies, plus internships integrated into the program.

After the Global BBA you can enter the job market directly or continue with a master's (including ESSEC's Grande École program / Master in Management, which is in the global top 10 of the Financial Times). With an EU degree you can work throughout the European Union without a visa, and the Singapore campus also opens up opportunities in Asia.