If you are looking at to pursue your MBA abroad, or especially in MBA in Europe, France is an excellent destination. The standard of education is among the highest in the world, with some of the top-ranked institutions to choose from. INSEAD and HEC Paris are regularly recognized as the two most prestigious in France. Both schools are very popular among international students and the class profiles are among the most diverse in the world. But, what if you have to choose between the two. In this post, Milind Singh writes about MBA at INSEAD vs HEC Paris.
MBA in France: INSEAD vs HEC Paris
Co-authored by Milind Singh
INSEAD vs HEC Paris: Quick Comparison
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Vision
- INSEAD: The Business School for the World
- HEC Paris: Apprendre à oser – “The more you know, the more you dare”
Related Article: Best Business Schools in Europe for MBA, MiM and EMBA
Locations
INSEAD: Fontainebleau, France; Singapore; and Abu Dhabi. INSEAD has three grounds – the first is in France, close Paris – one of the money related hearts of Europe; one is in Singapore, a champion among the most one of a kind and business-focused zones in Asia; and one is in Abu Dhabi, an inventive focus point in the Middle East. INSEAD pioneers the multi-grounds approach as a technique to construct the all-inclusive experience of understudies.
HEC Paris: Jouy-en-Josas, France, HEC is worked around a nineteenth-century château, on a backwoods grounds close Versailles and Paris. Its region profoundly of France and one of Europe’s noteworthy business urban networks makes it perfect for MBAs moving into the business world.
Program Content and Modules
INSEAD
INSEAD’s 10-month MBA is made from five indisputable periods that latest two months and close with a test, paper or errand. The underlying three-time spans spread the 14 focus courses which give understudies a cautious building up in the business aptitudes they’ll require. The inside courses consolidate such modules as “budgetary accounting, “various leveled directly”, “corporate cash related game plan” and “macroeconomics in the overall economy”. The second bit of the course, including the last two-time allotments, empowers understudies to tailor the course to their own points of interest by investigating 75 changed electives more than 10 educational zones.
The program underlines a consideration on internationalization and the overall market. With grounds in France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi, with accessories in the US and China, there are various open entryways for understudies to explore business in different social orders.
It’s during the last two-time allotments that understudies can in like manner switch grounds, to make their experience really all-inclusive. Countless electives similarly consolidate an extent of development abroad decisions.
The substance and instructive modules are constantly revived to keep INSEAD at the bleeding edge of business preparing. Understudies are remained fully informed regarding changing examples in the business and money-related universes by world-class teachers.
HEC Paris
The HEC Paris MBA is isolated into two phases: focal and adjusted. The key stage continues for eight months and intends to give understudies the inside aptitudes in business and the administrators that they’ll be viable in their occupations. This region covers everything from the budgetary way to deal with the administrators’ capacities, accounting, and different business rudiments. The most recent eight months is the adjusted period, which empowers understudies to tailor the course to their own special favorable circumstances. Understudies can pick electives which will be most helpful for their own one of a kind calling targets and desires. The choices join elective courses, specializations, all-inclusive exchanges, and hands-on work adventures.
The course has two confirmations, in September and January, and all understudies seek after a comparable pathway. There are modified job enhancement programs for all understudies given by the calling center, nearby hands-on opportunities to attempt learned capacities.
Training Style
INSEAD
INSEAD believes that there is no one right appearing, rather, it progresses freedom in the appearing of its teachers. The workforce is permitted to pick the methodology they feel is most appropriate for the course and the class being alluded to. This infers understudies will experience an extent of appearing, including logical investigations, PC diversions, imagining, adventure work and study visits.
Understudies are put into study get-togethers of around six understudies when they begin the MBA, with which they will work for most of the middle courses. These get-togethers are picked deliberately to ensure an extent of genders, nationalities, ages, experience levels and educational establishments are consolidated.
The workforce at INSEAD needs to draw out the best in all understudies, engaging them to pick up from the speakers just as from one another. Differentiations in association and establishment are used to make academic dialogs, which enable understudies to appreciate distinctive perspectives.
HEC Paris
The appearing at HEC Paris revolves around immersing understudies with the aptitudes they need to win in the business world. Understudies are given resources which fuse innovativeness talks, without fail coaching sessions with experienced business visionaries, and addresses and talks from the world’s best agents.
The 138 never-ending teachers hold PhDs from the world’s driving foundations, for instance, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and best European associations. The workforce tailors their approach to manage the course being alluded to, with consideration on learning by doing. Understudies are given the essential condition to fuse the theory they’ve learned.
The internationalism and not too bad assortment of the understudy body does not simply engage understudies to develop their open capacities, anyway, it empowers them to develop a multicultural method to manage procedure and basic reasoning, essential in the present globalized world.
Campus Culture and Environment
INSEAD
INSEAD prides itself on being a truly worldwide doctoral dimension school and one of the pioneers of the multi-grounds show. The foundation has grounds in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, with affiliations the entire route over the world. Understudies are offered an overall undertaking, empowering their working lives in a hyper-related world. The foundation intends to make trustworthy, sharp pioneers and business visionaries, who make a motivating force for their affiliations and their systems.
Characteristics
- Conventional assortment as a wellspring of learning and progression
- Opportunity as an organization rule
- Painstaking quality and relevance in instructing and research
- Closeness to the worldwide business organize
- Spearheading soul
INSEAD progresses a “lock-in, play hard” approach to managing MBA life on grounds. The foundation runs an arrangement of clubs and activities for understudies to get connected with. There are business clubs, which sort out ordinary framework’s organization events, yearly dialogs and excursions for arranged specialists; sports clubs, for those wanting to appreciate the broader wielding traditions of INSEAD, or who basically need to stay dynamic; and social clubs, for understudies to look for after near and dear interests and meet new people.
Watch the following video – Interview with Kunal Bhaget, INSEAD alumnus, who managed a career change – from a hotelier in India to an investment banker in London.
HEC Paris:

As per Andrea Masini, dean of the MBA program at HEC Paris, the school puts a lot of focus on leadership along with entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and social enterprise and sustainability.
“We’re a school for students seeking transformation with three to four years of work experience, students who want to work in truly multinational environments. Our diversity is a key difference. Students open up to a lot of different cultures. After all, in one hour you can be in Brussels, London or Milan by plane.” – as quoted on Poets & Quants.
HEC Paris was set up over a century back and has developed a secured lifestyle as a stalwart of business guidance. The establishment’s focal objective is twofold: setting up the overall pioneers of tomorrow and taking a working part in the making of the officials learning. This is upheld by both a careful research condition and close, long-standing associations with the corporate world.
Characteristics:
- Selectivity
- Overall exertion
- Feeling of action and a social fair assortment
- Understudy Life:
MBA students at HEC Paris can develop their organization capacities outside the classroom by taking employment in the understudy gathering, joining a specialist and frameworks organization club, appreciating bunch exercises or simply exploring different avenues regarding another interest. The grounds are masterminded in a 340-area of land wood which joins a 1,600m² exercise focus, 10,000m² of outside games workplaces, a couple of picnic regions and a lake.
Employment and Relocation
INSEAD
Of the 2015-2016 class, 89% had gotten an occupation offer three months after graduation and of those, 53% verified their situation through INSEAD’s employment enhancement center or the graduated class arrange. To the extent zones, 46% of the graduated class looked for after occupations in the board guiding, 14% in budgetary organizations, and 19% in the development, media and communicate correspondences divisions.
The general yearly mean pay of graduated class was US$103,700 for this assembling, the general yearly center pay was US$102,500 and the general center sign-on additional was $22,800 – which undeniably makes the sticker cost of the course have all the earmarks of being supported, in spite of all the inconvenience.
Strikingly, it’s organization authorities who have the greatest pay. The general mean pay for them was US$107,300, for money related organizations it was US$105,100, and for development, it was US$98,600.
Of the graduating class, 47% changed countries conversely with their pre-MBA territory – 36% remained in Western Europe, 29% moved to Asia-Pacific and 10% moved to Africa and the Middle East.
Related Article: MBA is Still Very Relevant to Increase Earnings
HEC Paris
92% of the 2015-2017 class had found a job within three months post-graduation and all things considered, MBA proceeds onward the normal base pay of alumni was around €86,300 (US$103,565), with around €17,500 (US$21,001) of yearly advantages. The normal sign-on extra was around €14,200 (US$17,040).
The most elevated salaried industry for alumni was €116,800 (US$140,164). In consulting that figure was €110,500 (US$132,604), and for the technology industry by and large – €94,500 (US$113,403). The area which offered the most elevated pay rates were in the Middle East, with a normal yearly pay bundle of €127,050 (US$152,464).

As per Sara Vanos, Associate Director of Marketing at HEC Paris, over one-third of international students stay in France.
“Speaking the local language helps with placement in Europe, so we encourage those dreaming of a post-MBA career in France or Europe to start learning French or the local language even before the program.” – as quoted on MBA Crystal Ball.
In 2018, 50% of Non-EU students found jobs in France and 60% secured employment outside of their home country.
About Milind Singh:
Milind is from Electrical-Electronics background and an MSc International Business (MIB) Graduate from Grenoble Ecole de Management, Business School (France). Currently, he is Country Manager (India) for the French Business School, Ecole de Management Léonard de Vinci.
In the past, Milnd has worked with StudyAbroad.Shiksha.com as Admission Counselor. Additionally, he also worked closely with prominent European Universities like Trinity College Dublin, EDHEC Business School, Cranfield, Frankfurt, HAN, Grenoble, EMLYON, Liverpool, Brunel, IESEG, SKEMA, Audencia, Montpellier, Toulouse Business School, Dublin City University, University College Cork, Maynooth, and Jonkoping University.