The ranking from the magazine l’Etudiant has sparked a new controversy: Is Nice the third (behind Clermont-Ferrand and Angers) or the 14th best student city in France? Actually, both, depending on which category we’re talking about: All university cities combined or medium-sized universities?
In fact, these rankings are not scientific and can change depending on the criteria adopted by different magazines and journals, which use them, in passing, to boost sales.
However, what is truly concerning is the position of the University of Nice in the QS Top Universities: Around the 500th place (more precisely at rank 490/500).
While it’s true that French and European universities (except the Anglo-Saxon ones) do not shine in this type of competition, when discussing regional attractiveness…
Patrick Allemand makes it a “political” issue: “Christian Estrosi has done nothing to develop a real university city. He has never understood that betting on education and university development is providing our metropolis with an additional economic development lever. This lack of will has direct consequences”.
The socialist politician takes the opportunity to deliver another jab at the Mayor of Nice:
“But, there is consistency, the University can ultimately only reflect a comprehensive educational policy. This ranking reflects the lack of ambition of the educational policy of the City and the metropolis, from school to the University. Bordeaux, which has chosen free extracurricular activities for kindergartens and primary schools, ranks 5th among university cities and is now one of the most attractive cities in France and Europe.”
Has Patrick Allemand become a supporter of Juppé?
Patrick Mottard (a departmental elected official and university member) offers a more technical judgment without any political repercussions in terms of responsibility: “Let’s be clear: regardless of the results of this ranking (generally refuted by those poorly ranked), Nice is a city where a major University is located, but it is not a university city.
The reasons are as follows: scattered campuses (a situation worsened by Sophia Antipolis), lack of involvement by successive municipalities, lack of involvement by the department and the Region, a “steady” management by successive University presidencies, and the refusal to split this large entity into several universities.
As a result, we don’t have student neighborhoods or even student traditions in Nice. Students behave as consumers; they disappear on weekends and during intermediate holidays. In fact, many students live in Cannes, Monaco, and even the Var, and return every evening like suburban commuters.
Our University is nonetheless in a good position for the quantitative reception of international students, but I am not convinced that much is done to make these stays memorable and ultimately beneficial for the city and the region.
This viewpoint, of course, does not concern the quality of teaching and some very reputable courses.”
Doesn’t this issue deserve a less contingency-bound and non-partisan reflection?
