Workers from a private university allege exploitative practices towards international students.
"Hey, mind your own business." When Tania, a former employee at College de Paris, managed to get through to the international admissions office over the phone, her tone was restrained. Founded by brothers Olivier and Nicolas de Lagarde in 2011, this private higher-education group has expanded rapidly, with schools and partners worldwide, a yearly turnover of 20 million euros in 2024, and the motto of "Making excellence accessible for all."
One of its older members is Ecema, a business school based in Lyon that offers professional certifications registered with the Ministry of Labor. Former employees, including Tania who handled admissions, spoke with Le Monde about questionable practices they couldn't support.
Tania, in particular, sought to comprehend why African students usually paid double (around 10,000 euros) the tuition of a French student. She also noticed an interesting pattern when visas weren't obtained: the school, which guarantees in its regulations to refund the candidate's application fees, could take up to a year to do so, according to Tania.
During the conversation, the admissions office mentioned "commissions paid to local agents," but they cautioned against discussing the matter further. Tania soon gathered that the amount, roughly between 2,000 and 3,000 euros, varied from one country to another. This inquiry led her to ponder the implications of these commissions with the College de Paris.
While it's unclear from the provided information if and how the College de Paris pays commissions to local agents, it's important to note that such practices are common in international education and student recruitment. Commissions, often paid to recruitment agents, can potentially influence the costs passed on to students, though specific details about College de Paris and its practices are scarce in the available information.
As Tania delved deeper into the operations of Ecema, a business school within the Lagarde group, she became increasingly concerned about the financial practices, particularly the commissions paid to local agents that seemed to impact the costs borne by international students. In light of this, she started to question if similar commission practices were being implemented in the Finance department of College de Paris, where education and self-development are marketed as accessible for all.
