Hollande’s university swansong: ‘I could have done more’

Four days after announcing that he would not seek re-election as French president, François Hollande admitted that he had not prioritised higher education soon enough during his presidential term.

Hollande was speaking on 5 December at a formal dinner for the CPU, France’s association of university presidents, held at the Élysée Palace. He said that he had understood “but maybe not fully enough…that ensuring autonomy and financial means” were central to making sure that French universities could grow.

Hollande drew attention to what he considered to be the main achievements of his presidential term within higher education and research: the dedication of €5 billion from the third round of the PIA innovation scheme to higher education, creating collaborative university groupings known as Comues, and reforming masters degrees to make courses more competitive.