2024.09.11

Following discussions within the School regarding the potential non-renewal of the accreditation from the Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur (CTI), the French accreditation body that recognizes most of EPFL’s Master’s level engineering programs [link], which expires at the end of 2028, AGEPoly surveyed the student community through its usual communication channels. The survey questions are available here [link].

The survey received 414 responses. The sample is representative of the EPFL student body in terms of academic department and level of study, with a slight overrepresentation of students from PH and MA1. In terms of nationality, three-quarters of respondents reported being French, which is significantly higher than the average at EPFL, which is around 50%. 90% of respondents indicated that they have at least a vague understanding of the purpose of CTI accreditation.

Regarding the possibility of replacing CTI accreditation with that of another organization:

Responses from Bachelor and CMS students:

32.1% would have made a different choice regarding their studies from the CMS/Bachelor level if CTI accreditation had not been available.

When considering only French respondents, this figure rises to 39.7%.

In the open-ended responses, the importance of CTI accreditation for working in France was emphasized by the majority. Some French students noted that they would have likely come to EPFL even without CTI accreditation. According to one of the later questions in the survey, 68.6% of respondents consider France as a possible destination for work after their studies at EPFL.

Responses from Master’s students:

26% stated that they would not have pursued their Master’s at EPFL without CTI accreditation.

When considering only French respondents, this figure rises to 30.7%.

The open-ended responses for Master’s students were similar to those for Bachelor’s students.

Regarding the possibility of removing CTI accreditation without replacement:

The results were as follows:

Notably, 36.2% of respondents who completed their Bachelor’s at EPFL (across all nationalities) stated that they would not have pursued their Master’s at EPFL without CTI accreditation.

The comments reflect a concern about the potential loss of EPFL diploma recognition in the job market in the absence of CTI accreditation. A minority of respondents felt that the EPFL’s reputation alone would be sufficient.

These results will be discussed with EPFL’s Quality Commission [link], in charge of such matters.