Headquartered in Paris, it has campuses in every major French cities, in overseas France and in every francophone African country,[7] China,[8][9] Haiti,[10] Germany,[11] and Switzerland.
[12][13][14] Founded in 1794 by the French bishop Henri Grégoire, CNAM's core mission is dedicated to provide education and conduct research for the promotion of science and industry.
[16] Under the aegis of the French Ministry of National Education, the National Directory of Professional Certifications and the Accreditation authority for French professional engineers, CNAM provides Grande Ecole and non-Grande Ecole certificates, diplomas, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees and PhD's in Science, Engineering, Law, Management (AMBA-accredited[17]), Finance, Accountancy, Urban planning and Humanities, all designed to abide by the European Bologna Process, and thus complying with the European Credit Transfer System.
The CNAM hosts also a museum dedicated to scientific and industrial inventions: Musée des Arts et Métiers (English: the Industrial Design Museum) which welcomed 250,000 visitors in 2018,[18] and is located on the Parisian campus of the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts at 292 rue Saint Martin, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, in the historical area of the city named Le Marais.
Founded on 10 October 1794, during the French Revolution,[19] it was then proposed by Abbé Henri Grégoire as a "depository for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the areas of the arts and trades".
At the present time, it is known primarily as a grand-école and university for: The collection of inventions is now operated by the Musée des Arts et Métiers.
[24] On 25 November 1819, at the instigation of Duke Decazes, newly nominated as Minister of the Interior, a three-Chairs higher education is established at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts: Applied Mechanical Engineering vested in Baron Charles Dupin; Applied Chemistry entrusted to Nicolas Clément; and Industrial Economics left with Jean Baptiste Say.
Shall some specific classes be available only in Paris or at another regionalc centre, the student can attend these courses on-site, shall it be required (for example laboratory sessions in Life Science, Physics or Chemistry).
[16][36] The doctoral college of CNAM comprises two doctoral schools:[37] Doctoral schools in partnership with other French Universities: In 2022, amongst the 4366 curricula in total, the array of the Cnam's academic curricula spans the following[46]: The French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts is a Grand Etablissment (like the prestigious Collège de France founded in 1530), but is also a Grande Ecole which provides Grande-Ecole degrees, i.e. solely Master's Degrees, MBAs and PhDs (Grande Ecoles do not bestow diplomas lower than a European Master's degree level).
Grandes écoles, like CNAM, are elite academic institutions which enroll students via an extremely competitive process, and a significant proportion of their graduates occupy the highest levels of French society.
Those levels of study include various "parcours" (in English: paths or curricula) based on UE (Unités d'enseignement or Modules, in English: Teaching Units or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS) and thus abiding by the Bologna Process of the European Union.
[53][54] While students prepare for these National Competitive examinations right after their high school diploma (often obtained with a magna cum laude or summa cum laude) during a two-year preparatory programme in high schools proposing such curricula; some other students will start an Undergraduate or Bachelor's degree and prepare for the national Competitive examinations along their studies at Universities or private Colleges in France or abroad.
As CNAM provides remote and continuous education, the access to the Grande Ecole does not require that candidates go through preparatory classes.
[55] Graduates from the Grande Ecole Engineering School: EiCNAM, receive coloured graduation scarf during the diploma bestowal ceremony, depending on the major they belong to: In 1973, the Louis-de-Broglie Foundation was created at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts by Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics Louis de Broglie along with Physics Nobel-Prize Laureate Louis Néel, and Fields Medallist René Thom, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of matter waves.