ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to examine some of the reasons why innovations were introduced into French higher education and to assess their effects. A. superficial examination of the reforms may create the impression that they were fundamental and extensive but this impression is due largely to the simultaneous publication of a number of decrees. In fact the French system of higher education has been undergoing a series of important changes throughout the twentieth century ever since the major reorganization of structure and administration in 1896. These changes, brought about gradually and involving new subjects and the examination system, were in fact more fundamental than the most recent changes. The main difference between the earlier reforms and the more recent ones lies in the general agreement that the latter were necessary.
