Undergraduate Current Students | HEC Paris

About HEC Paris

HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) Paris is considered to be one of the “four aces” in training the French elite. Unique to France, the “Grande Ecole” concept was introduced by Napoleon so that “the best and the brightest” could be channeled into his ministries, armies, and engineering corps. HEC's School of Management is among the first business schools in Europe and the first in France to hold the Triple Crown Accreditation. HEC has a long-established tradition of welcoming international students to its lively and friendly campus: an ideal environment in which to live and learn for over 3500 students from 80 nationalities in our programs.

Stern has established an undergraduate exchange with HEC Paris during the third year (or what HEC refers to as the "foundation" year) of its five-year program. HEC Paris’s five-year program consists of two years of rigorous study that some consider equivalent to the first two years of a bachelors program. This is followed by an additional three-year program where students complete their bachelor studies and then commence their master level studies. HEC students earn a master's degree at the end of their five-year program.

IMPORTANT: Per HEC Paris policy, Stern students who completed the French Baccalaureate cannot attend HEC Paris through the IBEX program. If you have completed the French Baccalaureate and are interested in studying in France, we recommend that you consider Universite Dauphine or Sciences Po instead. 

Term Dates

HEC Paris offers IBEX opportunities in the fall and spring semesters.

• Fall semester: early-September to mid-December
• Spring semester: late-January to late-May

In addition to pursuing a regular fall or spring semester exchange at HEC Paris, students can consider pursuing a spring semester through the HEC Entrepreneurship Program [jump link], sponsored through the generosity of the Cagni Foundation.

• Spring Entrepreneurship Program: mid-January to late-May

Dates are approximate and may be subject to change.

Housing and Living Costs (for the regular semester program - see Entrepreneurship program information below) 

• Housing: approximately €550 – 780/month. On-campus accommodation is subject to availability and not guaranteed, but off-campus housing resources are also provided. The HEC Paris housing site is here.
• Food: approximately €300/month 
• Culture and recreation: €100 – 120/month
• Transportation: €30 – 73/month
• Insurance: approximately €215 (In France, every student under 28 years old is required to register for the French student social security insurance system)
• Visa: $270 USD for Etudes en France application processing, $26 for VFS processing, and approximately $115 for a Long Stay Student Visa

€ = Euro

Find out more about IBEX tuition, housing, and other logistics. 

Language of Instruction

English or French

Student Services

The student services available to exchange students include:

• An active International Student Association that hosts weekly social events
• Over 100 student associations
• Sports activities

HEC Entrepreneurship Program (Spring Only)

Additional important information, including in-depth descriptions/timelines for the Incubator and Launchpad components, can be found on the IBEX HEC Entrepreneurship Flyer .

1. What is the HEC Entrepreneurship Program?

This program is sponsored through the generosity of the Cagni Foundation, in partnership with NYU Stern and HEC Paris. The program allows you to gain direct entrepreneurship experience by working on a startup project with a small team of fellow students. It only takes place in the spring semester, and is open to up to two NYU Stern Undergraduate students each year. This is an English-language program, so French language experience is not required, but strongly encouraged. You must apply for the HEC Entrepreneurship program during the regular IBEX application process, approximately a year before you will actually go abroad for this experience. 

2. Program Components/Credits

The HEC Entrepreneurship program consists of two components – the HEC Startup Launchpad and the HEC Incubator (Station F), for a total of 16 NYU credits for the semester (see additional information about how these credits can count in the Academic Information section below). The program runs from mid-January to the end of May. As a participant in the HEC Entrepreneurship program, you will need to dedicate all of your time to the program and will not be able to take other HEC courses. See below (in the Pre-Approved Courses section) for how credits from this program can transfer back to Stern.

3. Program Location & Housing

The entire Entrepreneurship program will take place in Paris—not on the HEC campus. Students will live in downtown Paris for the duration of the program. Participants must find and secure their own housing, there is no on-campus housing available.

4. Stipend

A limited number of stipends may be awarded - per the decision of the Cagni fund (number of stipends and amount (if any) determined annually by the Cagni fund). Stipends are awarded via check to the recipient and are subject to applicable taxes, so final award amounts will vary.

Academic Information

If you are accepted to IBEX, you will attend two advising meetings to plan and revise your schedule: one individual advising meeting with NYU Stern Academic Advising and one group advising meeting with the NYU Global Experiences team. As you build your academic schedule for your semester abroad, carefully review and consider the following course information.
 

Approved Courses for the HEC Entrepreneurship Program (Spring Only)

• The HEC Entrepreneurship program consists of two components—the HEC Startup Launchpad (12 credits) and the HEC Incubator: Station F (4 credits)—for a total of 16 NYU credits for the semester.
• The credits you will earn upon successful completion of the HEC Entrepreneurship Program can transfer back to Stern as follows:
  • 3 credits toward a Finance concentration
  • 3 credits toward the Entrepreneurship co-concentration
  • 3 credits towards the BTE Entrepreneurship elective requirement
  • 3 credits toward a Global Business co-concentration 
  • 3 credits toward Sustainable Business Practicum
  • Otherwise the credits for this program will come back as general Stern Electives

IBEX Course Information - Regular semester program

• You may take a full semester of business classes while abroad on IBEX.
• At HEC Paris, students can complete up to 6 credits (2 or 3 classes) of their concentration. The remaining half of your concentration must be completed in residence at Stern. There are no exceptions to this policy. Students with concentrations that have more than a 12 credit and 4 class minimum, please contact your Advisor for specific guidance. 
• Leave room for at least two general electives in your schedule. This allows you to:
  • Take interesting, location-specific courses not offered at Stern, and
  • Have more flexibility during the course registration process.
• Reference the IBEX Course Guide: What you can or cannot take.
  • You can take a maximum of two classes per concentration.
  • Accounting courses cannot be taken for credit toward the Accounting or CPA majors/concentrations.
  • All IBEX grades will transfer back to NYU Stern as Pass/Fail.

HEC Paris Pre-Approved Courses

• Review the list of HEC Paris Pre-Approved courses via the link below. The courses listed on this sheet were taken previously by Stern IBEX students and have already been approved for a specific NYU equivalent.
• There is no guarantee that the courses listed here will be offered during the specific semester you study abroad. It is important to be flexible. Have a Plan A and Plan B and the space to take some electives.
• If a course is already on this pre-approved list, it does not need to be reviewed again - unless you want to see if it will count towards a new requirement.

Finding New Courses

• You are not limited to only taking the courses listed on the spreadsheet.
• If you see a course in the HEC Course Catalog that you would like to take, you must submit the syllabus to Stern’s Global Experiences team for approval. 
• Online MOOC courses cannot be approved at this time.

Special Notes

HEC regular semester courses will transfer back to NYU Stern as 2 or 3 credits each. That means you should plan on taking 6 – 8 HEC classes for a total of 14 – 16 NYU credits. HEC has both full-semester and half-semester courses, as well as special "Skill Seminars."

• Full-semester courses meet for an hour and a half twice a week.
• Most of HEC’s "Elective" courses only last for half a semester and meet once a week for three hours.
• Meeting times can be confirmed on course syllabi.