European School of Political and Social Sciences


The European School of Political and Social Sciences is a non-profit private higher education institution located in Lille, France, and a member institution of Lille Catholic University, France's largest private university. Founded in 2012, ESPOL is dedicated to the study and research of political and social sciences, and awards state-recognized bachelors and masters. It has been compared to Sciences Po in Paris.

Campus

ESPOL is based in the Vauban neighborhood in Lille, Hauts-de-France, France, on the premises of Lille Catholic University's campus, and within walking distance to the Citadel of Lille.

Transport

The nearest Lille Metro stations are Gambetta and Cormontaigne.

Academic profile

Admission

Admission to ESPOL is competitive: for undergraduate programmes the admission rate ranges from 5 to 10%. All undergraduate applications are made through Parcoursup, the online admission platform hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. In 2016–17, entry qualifications of first-year undergraduate students averaged 14.74 in the French Baccalauréat.
Postgraduate students at ESPOL are required to have an undergraduate level degree at the time of entry and provide proof of English language proficiency. Master's applications are made through the University's admission platform. The admission rate ranges from 25 to 30%.
In the 2016–17 academic year, ESPOL had a domicile breakdown of 91:9 of French:non-French students respectively in the undergraduate programmes, of 30:70 of French:non-French students respectively in the master's programmes, and with a female to male ratio of 71:29. In the same year, 25% of ESPOL students were scholarship holders.
Tuition fees at ESPOL vary according to household income, household composition and a needs-based evaluation index. Tuition fees for both bachelors and masters range from 2885 € to 9500 €.

Programmes and degrees

The School offers 2 bachelor's degrees and 4 master's degrees. Its bachelor's programmes are bilingual whereas its master's programmes are taught only in English

Bachelor's degrees

ESPOL students have access to the BU Vauban network of 9 libraries: 6 in Lille, 2 in Paris and 1 in Nice, totalling 400,000 books. The library network is a member of Couperin, a consortium representing more than 250 academic institutions in France, which facilitates and negotiates access to academic journals, databases, e-books and other online resources offered by academic publishers.

Public lectures and guest speakers

Recent prominent speakers at the University and the School have included Thomas J. Biersteker, Christian de Boissieu, Cyril Dion, Bernard Kouchner, Chantal Mouffe, Jeremy Rifkin, Gilles Pargneaux, Luuk van Middelaar, Johan C. Verbeke, Muhammad Yunus and Pierre-Yves Neron.

Partnerships

ESPOL has academic partnerships in teaching and research with 140 universities across the world, including

Students' union

There are over 15 clubs and societies under the umbrella of the ESPOL students' union, including ESPOMUN, the Model United Nations delegation at ESPOL, the Alumni network, the ESPOL debating society "Révolte-toi Espol".
Sporting activity is coordinated by the ESPOL sports office.