The 2025-2026 academic year: what's really in store for universities

Almost 3 million students have been back in the lecture halls since the beginning of September. Every year, the start of the academic year is a marathon for universities and grandes écoles: enrolments to manage, classrooms to allocate, timetables to finalize, teachers to mobilize...

But in 2025, the challenge is even greater: more students, more pressure, more internationalization, more budget constraints. In short, the organization is more complex than ever.

Let's take a quick look at the situation.

Steadily increasing student numbers

The trend is clear: the massification of higher education continues.

• 2.96 million students in 2023-2024 (+7.7% in five years)
• 1.6 million university students: 960,000 in bachelor's programs, 589,000 in master's programs, 54,000 in doctoral programs
• In the private sector, the momentum is spectacular: +53% since 2016, with 1 in 4 students now enrolled in the private sector.
• Apprenticeships are gaining ground: 636,000 students are on sandwich courses, i.e. 1 in 5. The increase has reached +10% in one year and +33% in two years, driven in particular by the BUT, STS and masters programs (it remains to be seen whether this dynamic will withstand the new rules that come into force in July 2025).

And what about admissions?

• Parcoursup At the end of September 2024, 94.5% of applicants had received a proposal, 81.7% had accepted one.
• My Master Only 71% of the 235,000 applicants were offered a place. The gap remains wide: 84% of L3 students will go on to a Master's degree, compared with just 48% of graduates of professional licenses in 2024.

Source: State of Higher Education, Research and Innovation 2025, MESR

But behind these figures lies another reality: insufficient infrastructure, overcrowded lecture theatres, overbooked tutorials, increasingly complex planning and administrative services under pressure.

 

Teaching budgets and resources under pressure

The 2025 report from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research provides other key data that merit our attention.

Financing

The national effort remains substantial: the French government has earmarked 43 billion euros for higher education in 2023 (1.6% of GDP, slightly above the OECD average).

But with the increase in student numbers, spending per student is falling: only €13,060 per year, which has a direct impact on the quality of supervision.

Framing

There are some 93,000 teaching staff, including 55,200 research professors. Although the numbers have risen by 3.5% in 20 years, this growth is still very marginal compared to the 20% increase in student numbers over the same period.

In concrete terms, in addition to increased pressure on often ageing buildings, this means that student groups are growing larger, individualized support is diminishing and the overall quality of teaching is declining... And establishments are having to juggle with limited resources.

 

The international appeal of French universities

France is attracting an ever-increasing number of foreign students: almost 320,000 in international mobility by 2023, i.e. more than one student in ten.

And in terms of prestige, French universities shine in the new Shanghai ranking :

• Paris-Saclay: 13th in the world, 1st in continental Europe.
• PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité: all in the top 100.
• 27 French establishments ranked in 2024.

These international accolades boost the attractiveness of our campuses and demonstrate the quality of research and education in France.

Attractiveness also requires impeccable logistics and organization : reception, accommodation, administrative support (residence permits, CVEC), educational integration (English courses, language support). Fluid management is imperative to enhance the international appeal of our campuses.

 

Timetables: the key to a successful back-to-school season

This is the question that all educational managers are asking themselves: "How can we absorb the rise in enrolments without losing out on teaching quality?"

The answer often lies in one word: planning. Building a schedule is no longer just an administrative task. Planning is a strategic lever which, if well conceived, can :

• Consistent distribution of groups and courses despite ever-increasing class sizes

• Optimize room usage and avoid overcrowding and reservation conflicts

• Anticipate peak demand and smooth out the load over the week

• Giving educational managers a clear, shared vision of resources

• Provide teachers and students with better visibility and quality schedules

In other words: less stress in September, more time to focus on the essentials: teaching and student success.

Pedagogical hybridization for greater flexibility

Building more and more square meters is neither viable nor realistic, and often impossible due to lack of funding.

Pedagogical hybridization offers an agile alternative:

• Alternate face-to-face and distance learning to relieve campus congestion.
• Focus on modular, collaborative spaces.
• Spread the workload over several teaching formats.

Students appreciate flexibility... but beware: the face-to-face experience remains essential to campus life. The challenge is to find the right balance.

💡Other solutions exist: discover our tips and tricks for optimizing campus management through planning.

Overcoming back-to-school 2025

 The start of the 2025 academic year illustrates the paradoxes of higher education: more students, fewer resources, greater complexity, but also greater attractiveness and opportunities.

Looking for a little height? Discover our article dedicated to the major challenges facing higher education today

Establishments that know how to...

• anticipate flows,
• optimize the use of their space,
• modernize their time management,
• take advantage of pedagogical hybridization,

... won't just survive the new school year: they'll turn it into a lever for excellence and attractiveness.

And this is precisely where solutions like ADE Campus can make a difference.