EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES IN FRANCE 353 



giving them an undue advantage over their own students. By any 

 such method, the foreign student could secure a State degree in a 

 relatively shorter time than the native. The problem was to adapt 

 the curriculum to meet the wants of foreign students while pre- 

 serving intact the rights of French students. This the act of 1896 

 accomplished, by authorizing the universities to create titles of a 

 different character from the ones conferring State rights or priv- 

 ileges. In no case can the former degrees be considered a substi- 

 tute for the latter. These new degrees were known as "University 

 degrees," instead of "State degrees." 



The different universities in France, in accordance with the act 

 of July 10, 1896, have created doctorates. The regulations per- 

 taining to acquiring this title are made by the university conferring 

 it, but practically the principle governing the bestowal of the de- 

 gree is the same in all of the sixteen French universities. The 

 State degrees remain as before, open to all foreigners who care to 

 submit to the same ordeal to obtain them as do the native 

 students. 



It may now readily be seen that the higher education in France 

 is practically upon the same basis as that in the universities of Ger- 

 many or at the graduate schools of the well-known universities in 

 our own country. The system governing the reception of foreign 

 students, the splendid advantages offered, and the bestowal of the 

 doctorate by the universities in France, are all along similar lines 

 that in Germany have long proved attractive to Americans. The 

 requirements enabling a student to pursue the courses in any one of 

 the sixteen French universities fitness shown by examination, or 

 by the presentation of a diploma, or certificate or degree, from a 

 college or school of high standing are practically the same as 

 those called for in order to pursue courses in any one of the twenty- 

 six universities in Germany. The sixteen French universities, each 

 with four or five faculties (Letters, Law, Science, Medicine, Phar- 

 macy), now stand forth as clearly defined as the twenty-six sister 

 universities in Germany. 



The act which has effected the great changes described in the 

 organization of the French educational system, and particularly 

 changed the attitude towards foreign students of all the institu- 

 tions for the higher education in France, is so important that before 

 going on to speak of the different universities it will be of interest 

 to learn something of the prime movers who brought about modi- 

 fications so beneficial and so far-reaching. 



