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We recently received a diploma titled Grade de Master in Elementary Education, with emphasis in Teaching Social Sciences and transcripts for one year of study (60 ECTS) completed at a university in France. For the purpose of protecting the identity of the individual who submitted said documents, we will not disclose the name of the university. We can, however, state that the university is recognized and the Grade de Master was issued by the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation (Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation).
What was interesting about this case was that there was a 15-year gap between when the individual had finished high school (Baccalaureat) and started the Grade de Master program. When we asked our applicant to provide credentials for previous university studies, e.g. Licence or Bachelor, we were told they didn’t exist as the individual never studied for a Licence or Bachelor or any other university degree, other than the Grade de Master.
We asked for more information on the criteria for admission to the Grade de Master program as we typically see completion of the three-year Licence or Bachelor as a requirement. We were informed by the individual of the existence of a law in France where a person who is the parent of three children can participate in a special lottery to win admission to the Grade de Master program.
In order to verify this claim, we asked the individual to provide us with the link to the section addressing this three-child policy which would appear in the Bulletin Officiel (B.O.) of the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports of France. The B.O. is the reference for all French education which lists all programs and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year. The B.O. is very dense and searching for information relevant to the subject one is looking for is best left with the individual who studied in the system. We asked our applicant to point us to the section in the B.O. that addresses the 3-child policy. We were directed to item 6.3 in the B.O. which confirms that an individual with three children but no previous university studies may participate in a lottery and the winner will be admitted to the Grade de Master program.
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Courtesy of Google Translate, below is the translation of the text in item 6.3 of the B.O. concerning the three-child policy applied to those who do not hold a previous university degree for admission to the Grade de Master:
“6.3 Candidates exempt from titles or diplomas
6.3.1 Mothers and fathers of at least three children
In application of the provisions of the modified decree n ° 81-317 of April 7, 1981 may apply for the competitions referred to in this note, without fulfilling the diploma conditions required of candidates, mothers or fathers of families of at least three children they actually raise or raise.
This condition is assessed on the date on which the diploma is required to enter the competition.
6.3.2 Top athletes
Pursuant to Article L. 221-3 of the Sports Code, high-level athletes can apply for state competitions without fulfilling the diploma conditions required.
They must be entered on the ministerial list, established by the Minister responsible for sports, valid on the date on which the diploma is required to sit for the competition.”
You may be wondering how ACEI evaluated this credential? Since we recognize the three-year Licence or Bachelor as comparable to three years of undergraduate study in the United States, we evaluated the one year (60 ECTS) for the Grade de Master as comparable to one year of undergraduate credit at the upper division level.
Sources:
https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/
https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/13/Hebdo29/MENH1317592N.htm
The Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), was founded in 1994 and is based in Los Angeles, California, USA. ACEI is a full-service company providing complete and integrated services in the areas of international education research, credential evaluation, and translation. ACEI’s Global Consulting Group®, offers expertise in the following specialties: Media and Branding, Global Pathways, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to interested institutions and organizations around the globe. www.acei-global.org