If you’re hoping to study in France, you’ll want to know which universities are the best.

So what are the top French universities and colleges? According to Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2016-2017, 27 French institutions are counted among the top universities in the world.

The ranking includes 10 institutions in Paris – making up more than a third of the best universities in France – and other options scattered around the country.

Best universities in France 2017

France rank 2017	World University rank 2017	University	City
1	66	École Normale Supérieure	Paris
2	=116	École Polytechnique	Paris
3	=121	Pierre and Marie Curie University	Paris
4	179	Paris-Sud University	Paris
=5	201-250	CentraleSupélec	Various
=5	201-250	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Lyon
=5	201-250	Paris Descartes University	Paris
=5	201-250	Paris Diderot University – Paris 7	Paris
9	251-300	Mines ParisTech	Paris
=10	301-350	Aix-Marseille University	Marseille
=10	301-350	University of Bordeaux	Bordeaux
=10	301-350	Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées	Toulouse
=10	301-350	University of Strasbourg	Strasbourg
=14	351-400	Claude Bernard University Lyon 1	Lyon
=14	351-400	École des Ponts ParisTech	Paris
=14	351-400	Montpellier University	Montpellier
=14	351-400	Paris-Sorbonne University – Paris 4	Paris
=18	401-500	École Normale Supérieure de Cachan	Cachan
=18	401-500	University of Nantes	Nantes
=18	401-500	University of Nice Sophia Antipolis	Nice
=18	401-500	Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1	Paris
=18	401-500	University of Lille	Lille
=23	501-600	National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon (INSA Lyon)	Lyon
=23	501-600	University of Rennes 1	Rennes
=23	501-600	Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC)	Besançon
26	601-800	École Centrale de Lyon	Lyon
27	801+	University of Cergy-Pontoise	Cergy