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Grouping of National Economics and Statistics Schools (Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique: GENES)

ENSAE's competitive entrance exams are open to candidates who have complete classes préparatoires (intensive training programs) for scientific or business grandes écoles, obtained a B.A. in mathematics or economics, or graduated from a scientific grande école. The basic program is three years long, but the duration may be shortened to two depending on student credentials. In addition, ENSAE offers a Master's degree ("Mastère": MS) and a "Specialized Higher-Education Certificate" (Certificat d'Études Supérieures Spécialisées: CESS) open to students with five years of higher education after their baccalauréat. The total student body is about 300, and the annual number of graduates is approximately 130. The latter include fewer than 20 INSEE administrateurs.

ENSAI's competitive entrance exams are open to candidates with two years of higher education after their baccalauréat. In some cases, holders of degrees obtained after four years of higher education may be admitted directly, bypassing the entrance exam. The program is three years long, but only two years long for students with civil-servant status (élèves-fonctionnaires), who can extend it with a year of continuing education entitling them to a diploma. The total student body is about 300, including 100 or so INSEE attachés. The annual number of non-civil-servant graduates is approximately 70.

The Center for the Study of Economic Programs (Centre d'Études des Programmes Économiques: CEPE) is a continuing-education center that provides training in economics and statistics for government employees, the private sector, and attendees from abroad. Inter-company programs meet the most common and highly specialized needs of professionals whose work involves the handling of statistical and economic data. CEPE designs customized and special-purpose training courses for "client" organizations. Each year, the Center offers nearly 300 training days and hosts some 700 participants.

CREST comprises the following units at its Paris facility:

and the following units at its Rennes facility:

A CREST sub-unit, the Economics and Statistics Research Group (Groupe de Recherche en Économie et Statistique: GRECSTA) is linked with the French National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: CNRS) as "associated research unit" (Unité de Recherche Associée: URA) #2200.

CREST works in the scientific and technical fields taught at ENSAE and ENSAI. INSEE assigns members of its staff to CREST, enabling them to conduct research in statistics and economics.

Role of grandes écoles in France

The INSEE schools make it possible to provide common training for management-level statisticians. This situation is highly specific to France, where the INSEE schools belong to the traditional grandes écoles system; in other countries, such training is generally offered by universities. The schools' development is driven by their intake of students who will go on to work in the private sector. These graduates find jobs as senior managers in the economic-analysis departments of large corporations, in the banking, financial, and insurance sectors, and in the growing number of sectors that rely on statistics and information processing. By offering opportunities for private-sector careers, the INSEE schools are assured of a large intake and can face competition from the educational systems of France, Europe, and even the rest of the world. This abiding commitment to provide relevant, up-to-date training in statistics and economics is supported by the work performed at INSEE's research center, CREST.

History of INSEE schools

Founded in 1946, INSEE's "application school" (école d'application) was assigned as its main task the training of statisticians and economists to serve in the French public administration. From the outset, the training was designed to lead to two careers: INSEE administrateur and INSEE attaché. The school's Administrateurs Division operated as an "application school" for the École Polytechnique. Its intake thus consisted of graduates from grandes écoles and bachelors of science from universities. The Attachés Division admitted students with a B.A. in mathematics.

In addition to French civil servants, the school attracted two other categories of students: (1) foreign civil servants sent by their countries and destined to serve in a management-level capacity in departments that were being set up or expanded; (2) young students trained in both statistics and economics, seeking careers in research firms or corporate operational-research departments. The "application school" thus became a scientific higher-education institution serving both the private and government sectors. A decree of November 2, 1960, turned the école d'application into the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique: ENSAE) and widened the intake to university graduates in law and economics. The total student body expanded swiftly from about 14 in 1950 to over 300 in the 1960s, and the school's reputation spread.

Meanwhile, to meet the training needs of management-level statisticians in the developing countries, the European Center for Training of Economist-Statisticians from Developing Countries (Centre Européen de Formation des Statisticiens-Économistes des Pays en Voie de Développement: CESD) was set up in January 1963. Its students attended ENSAE. CESD has since facilitated the establishment of statistics schools in Africa and organized the transfer of training programs to them.

The decree of April 15, 1971 (amended), was a milestone in ENSAE's history by spelling out its mission as a grande école. The decree of June 27, 1994, gave the school its present structure. The ENSAE in its traditional form was replaced by the Grouping of National Economics and Statistics Schools (Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique: GENES), which comprises four entities:

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