University in France
Paris, Île-de-France, France
University profile
The Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam), in Paris, is a French grand établissement d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche specialising in higher professional education throughout life. Its motto is Omnes docet ubique (it teaches everyone, everywhere). It is open to employees, self-employed workers, young students and jobseekers who want a qualification in scientific, technical and service-sector fields, update their knowledge or retrain.
The Cnam was created in 1794 and today combines schools, including an engineering school (EiCnam), institutes awarding diplomas that permit regulated professions, around twenty laboratories and the Musée des Arts et Métiers (MuAM), which holds a large industrial and technological collection. Its main address is 292 rue Saint-Martin in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, with further Paris sites at rue Gay-Lussac (5th) and the Landy teaching centre in Saint-Denis.
The training offer comprises close to 700 courses from level 4 to level 8 across eight main themes, delivered in Paris, through regional centres across metropolitan France and overseas territories, and abroad. Teaching is organised in units (unités d'enseignement) that learners accumulate towards a diploma, which suits people studying alongside work. The Cnam's apprenticeship training centre (CFA) offers more than 20 work-study programmes from bac+1 to bac+5 in technical and service-sector specialities, and learners can also pursue a validation of prior experience (VAE).
On the research side, the Cnam counts 365 teacher-researchers, 22 laboratories, 2 associated teams and a test centre (the Institut aérotechnique), plus a doctoral offer of about thirty specialities through two doctoral schools. Its libraries and the Cnum digital library of the history of techniques (over a million pages) support students.
International students are welcomed through the Direction des Affaires européennes et internationales (DAEI). The Cnam has five centres abroad, 13 teaching sites abroad, 110 partner institutions in 47 countries, and about 15,000 international auditors, of whom 10,000 study outside France. An Online Welcome Desk helps foreign students prepare their stay in Paris, and services include social assistance, libraries and catering at certain sites.
Fees depend on nationality, residence and diploma. National fees for EU, EEA and Swiss students: Licence 178 EUR, Master 255 EUR, engineering schools under the ministry 630 EUR (with exceptions), Doctorate 398 EUR. Differentiated fees for non-EU students: Licence 2,902 EUR, Master 3,950 EUR; doctoral students pay 398 EUR and are not subject to differentiated fees. Fees vary with level, status (initial or continuing training) and diploma, so the fee on each course sheet applies.
The Contribution de vie étudiante et de campus (CVEC) is paid in addition to registration fees: 105 EUR for 2026-2027. Holders of a bourse sur critères sociaux are exempt from the CVEC and from national registration fees, subject to conditions.
Holders of French government scholarships and bourses sur critères sociaux, and students covered by reciprocity agreements (inter-institution agreements, European and international programmes) are automatically and fully exempt. Exemptions on request may be granted for personal circumstances such as crisis countries, refugee status, disability or family financial difficulty. For 2026-2027 exemptions granted by universities are capped at 30% of the students concerned, and decree no. 2026-385 of 19 May 2026 provides transitional rules for those exempted in 2025-2026 or before its publication.
The Eiffel scholarship of the French ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs targets international master and doctoral students. Applications are submitted only by institutions; the Cnam put forward 2 laureates in 2022, 3 in 2024 and 4 in 2025. To be nominated, contact the teaching team of the programme at the start of the academic year and before mid-November.
Admitted international students may qualify for French embassy scholarships, company and foundation grants (such as Fondation TotalEnergies) or government programmes (such as Indonesia's KOMINFO), and can seek information through Campus Bourses. Outbound mobility can be supported by Erasmus+ (KA131) grants and regional aid.
Bourse d'excellence Eiffel (candidatures présentées par le Cnam) →
Browse the scholarships listed for Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam) and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam) →The Cnam is open to employees, independent workers, young learners and jobseekers. Courses are chosen from the 2026-2027 catalogue, and each course sheet gives the practical information for the centres that offer it. Calendars and procedures vary by programme and centre.
For 2026-2027, registration for semester 1 and full-year teaching units runs from 1 June to 16 October 2026; for semester 2 it runs from 1 June 2026 to 5 March 2027, and the same window applies to activity units (unités d'activité). Registration is made online or in person at La Fabrique des compétences, 292 rue Saint-Martin, Paris 3e (Monday to Friday, 12:30 to 17:30, no appointment). Regional centres publish their own calendars.
The international office does not handle à-la-carte courses or fully distance programmes (FOAD). Contact: [email protected].
Doctoral training is organised through the Abbé-Grégoire doctoral school (social sciences and management) or the SMI doctoral school (engineering sciences), with about thirty doctoral specialities. The first-year doctoral pathway includes compulsory seminars (6 ECTS) and elective training (24 ECTS) recorded on the Adum platform. The Cnam also supports Cifre industrial contracts.
Libraries serve all sites, with free remote access to the Cnum digital library, and the Cnam provides social assistance and administrative canteens at some sites.
Study programmes offered at Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam).
Experiences shared by students of Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam).
Studied here? Share your experience to help other applicants.
Book a free consultation with our expert counsellors and take the first step towards your dream university.
Copyrights © 2026 StudyMapped. All rights reserved.
Enter your credentials to continue.
Join us and start your study abroad journey.
