On a national scale and regarding the professional insertion after graduation, the University of Nantes oscillates between 3rd and 40th out of 69 universities depending on the field of studies.[5] Currently, the university is attended by approximately 34,500 students. More than 10% of them are international students coming from 110 countries.
The current University was founded in 1970 under the terms of the 1968 law which reformed French higher education. This newly established institution replaced the former University of Nantes which had been founded in the early 1960s. This itself was a re-establishment of the original University of Nantes which was established by papal bull in 1460 but was abolished during the French Revolution.[7]
The university of Brittany is found by Bertrand Milon on April 4, 1460, at the initiative of the duke François II of Brittany under the form of a papal bull of the Pope Pie II given to Sienne. This embodies the wish of François II to affirm his independence towards the French king, while near the duchy in Angers in 1432, Poitier in 1432 and Bordeaux in 1441, some universities are created. Found under the structure of a studium generale, this university can teach all traditional disciplines: Arts, Theology, Law and Medecin. The number of students between the end of the 15th century and during the two following centuries reach a thousand or 1500, according to the highest estimates.
The first attempt to move the university of Nantes to Rennes takes place at the end of the 16th century. French king, Henry IV wants to punish Nantes, a ligueuse ville for its support of the duke of Mercoeur. The university receives an order from the king by a letter of August 8, 1589 to move to Rennes, a city remains loyal to the monarchy. The institution is however not moved because of financial issue. A new letter of September 5, 1591 from the king reiterate the order of transfer, but again without application. On April 1598, a last king's letter stabilise the situation by confirming the establishment of the university in Nantes.
Since 2004, the University has followed the LMD European system that divides the post-secondary education in 3 degrees: the Licence( equivalent of a Bachelor's degree), the Master and the Doctorat (PhD).[8] Each course provides credits according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) developed by the European Commission and a certain number of credits will allow a student to obtain their degree.[9] For instance, the first post-secondary education degree, the Licence, can be obtained with 180 ECTS accumulated within 3 years. A full year gives 60 ECTS while a semester gives 30 ECTS.
The University offers the students to practice more than 50 different sports, whether it is for competitive or recreational purposes. The University also provides adapted training to athlete students and participates in national and international competitions in the following disciplines: athletics, rowing, badminton, French boxing, soccer, ice hockey, judo, swimming, and sailing.[10]
In 2011, the University was one of the first French universities to create a quidditch team.[11]
Approximately 3,500 places on residence are available each year. These places are distributed by the CROUS on a social status basis taking into account the yearly income of the student's parents or legal representative, the number of siblings remaining under the parents' responsibility and the distance between the University and the student's place of residence.[12]
There are two types of residences:
The traditional ones gather 9 m2 single bedrooms in a building with common bathrooms and kitchens at each floor.
The renovated ones with individual furnished apartments going from 13 to 18m2.[13]
The CROUS from Nantes manages the different student restaurants on campus as well as the meals they offer. Most of the restaurants are open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday and offer a complete meal at a price regulated on a yearly basis. For the academic year of 2013-2014, the price of a meal was set at €3.30 (2019-2020).[14]
The University currently has partnerships with 397 institutions in 60 different countries worldwide. The majority of these partnerships are located in Europe. Each year, more than 1,000 students go abroad to study in one of those partner institutions for one or two semesters. The university receives each year students from its partner universities in exchange for welcoming the students from Nantes. The existing partnerships are ruled according to different international conventions such Erasmus (Europe), ISEP and CREPUQ (Quebec).
Exchange students are still registered in the University of Nantes and transfer the credits they gained in their host university. Conversely, the international students who came on exchange in Nantes will receive their credits in their home university.
There were 4,210 international students registered in the University of Nantes for the year 2018.[15]
