The author delineates four distinct sectors of higher education which have developed in contemporary France, and discusses how this system has managed to absorb social demand and deflect challenges to its historically stratified and elitist nature. (SJL)

The development of the new French universities is traced from 1968 to 1978. Chapter One examines the state of French higher education prior to 1968, including such aspects as access to education and student life. Chapter Two focuses on the student revolt at the Sorbonne on May 3, 1968. In the next four chapters, the emergence of the Faure law with…

Based on time-series data, found that growth in enrollment rates in French elementary schools, 1837-81, was related to urbanization and spending by local village councils and was not related to central government action or changing economic demands. Nationwide economic and political processes confronted highly variable local conditions influenced…