More expensive housing, crowded transport or even student insecurity… The model of metropolisation of higher education and research (ESR) today seems to be reaching its limits. If large metropolises still remain those which, in absolute terms, welcome the most students, medium-sized cities are now making a strong presence in the student landscape which they intend to develop. According to certain studies, they saw their student population increase by 13% between 2013 and 2020, compared to 7% for large cities. Others put the number of students gained by these municipalities in 20 years at 100,000. It must be said that the development of higher education in a territory responds to various challenges, between combating the exodus of young people, revitalizing city centers and supporting the local economy. Its leading role is also highlighted by the Court of Auditors in its “University and territories” report of April 2023.
“We are pleading for the creation of a Bac+1 for industrial professions”
An increase of 412%
In Grasse, in the Alpes-Maritimes, the municipality has been working on the subject for almost a decade. With some success. Starting from almost a blank slate, the town of 48,000 inhabitants currently hosts 24 approved schools, public or private, including some of international stature such as the Ecole Supérieure du Parfum. The group combines 44 training courses in 6 sectors where the historical “Chemistry and aromatic products” dominates alongside “tourism”, “health”, “engineering” or even “commerce and management”. “ The offer well represents the colors of the territory, both industrial but also rich in culture and heritage. “, notes Laurence Maussang, director of the Grasse Campus entity, conductor of the ESR strategy of the Pays de Grasse urban community, whose statutes have been modified to include this skill – until now optional. As a result, the student population jumped by 412% between 2017 and 2024 and should continue its upward curve with the scheduled arrival at the start of the 2025 school year of the EPSI computer engineering school and the development of a new sector dedicated to “transport , logistics and supply chain. “ We are also working on structuring a more professional offering to better meet the needs of local businesses. », Replies Laurence Maussang. In total, a thousand students will work in the city of perfumes next year.
With Action Cœur de Ville, Grasse intensifies the reconquest of its historic center
Revitalize the city heart
« We bet on youth. It is she who will change the trajectory of our city heart », assures Jérôme Viaud. Like other mayors before him, in Lille, Bordeaux and elsewhere, the Chief Magistrate of Grasse relies on higher education to transform a degraded, impoverished historic center, which impacts the attractiveness and therefore the development of a city yet known and recognized as the world cradle of perfumery. The objective? Create a multi-site Anglo-Saxon campus within the 10 hectares of the old town, by reappropriating the emblematic buildings, most of them dormant, in order to assign them to teaching and laboratory functions. A strategy endorsed by the “Action Cœur de ville” program, parts 1 and 2, carried out with the Banque des Territoires, which made it possible to mobilize 8 million euros to transform the old courthouse into a modern campus welcoming nearly 500 students. This fall, it was the former adjoining gendarmerie that the municipality attacked. Its rehabilitation, budgeted at 7 million euros, will double the community’s student capacity within 18 months. “ The development of a next site is in preparation, specifies Jérôme Viaud. Located near the Charles Nègre media library, in a former evangelical church that we bought, it should be operational in 2 and a half years. »
Student life
As for housing, student but not only, it benefits from this strategy of rehabilitation of the existing to move upmarket. Thus, SPL Pays de Grasse Développement is currently carrying out several operations to restructure dilapidated blocks for a total budget of 13 million euros. As for the developer MJ Développement, it is engaged in a program to rehabilitate the city’s former prison (5 million euros) thanks to which 77 student accommodations will soon see the light of day. However, there are still many holes in the racket, particularly regarding student life. “ With the arrival of students, needs evolve. They want places to live, bars, restaurants, places of culturenotes Jérôme Viaud. However, we do not yet have the desired level of offers. We will have to work on this “. And in particular by tackling commercial vacancies, the scourge of the hearts of medium-sized towns in general, and Grasse in particular. The city is in fact close to 25% in the center to reach 60% on certain arteries.
