The diplôme d'ingénieur is a French diploma of higher education awarded by French Écoles d’ingénieurs which can be independent schools of engineering or universities with internal schools of engineering (they are often known as Grandes Écoles). This diploma confers the academic title of Ingénieur diplômé de . This diploma and title is generally obtained after five years of studies after the French Baccalauréat (equivalent of the high school diploma or A-level).
Since 1999, the Master's Degree is also conferred by the state to the holder of a Diplôme d'Ingénieur. All titles of Ingénieur diplômé are protected by the state and the institutions must be accredited by the Minister of Higher Education to award a Diplôme d'Ingénieur.
French engineers are educated in close cooperation with industries. These academic-industry partnerships introduce graduates to professional life while giving them a solid grounding in their discipline. As graduates will in most cases be in management positions in projects or teams, management courses are also part of the education.
In addition to courses in theory and practice in their chosen discipline, most students also get:
- courses in human and social sciences, including management courses,
- courses in labor and business law,
- visits to production sites,
- conferences by professionals,
- internships and research projects carried out in corporate facilities.
More than 90 percent of the engineering programs require at least one internship (typically in a business setting) at some point in the curriculum.
Schools offer three types of internships that involve them progressively in the firm, initially as observers and increasingly as actors. One can distinguish “worker” internships, “senior technician” internships, and “graduate” internships, where the students do the same type of work they will do as engineers. Internships are graded and part of the degree requirements.