Paris School of Management (PSM) DBA

If you are looking for a low-cost DBA, the Paris School of Management offers a tuition fee of €9,000 or €4,500 for a second Doctoral degree.

Accreditation: https://www.education.gouv.fr/acce_public/uai.php?uai_mode=list&uai_ndx=2

 

Any links to that information? Because I'm seeing a tuition of a bit over 35K Euros, and no provision for a second doctoral degree:

https://www.psbedu.paris/en/programs/executive-dba

 

Here's a comparison of the DBA and the "Top Up" DBA:

https://www.psm-paris.fr/en/online-top-up-dba-program/


I wonder if graduates of the latter might have problems with a foreign credential evaluation. Of course, they might not need it.

I am confused as to why (or how) there are two Paris Schools of Management. And I haven't even tried to verify that the school is properly recognized in France. But the program is intriguing.

 

Okay, I looked further. Because of France's public/private strangeness, it's hard to guess how a degree from this school would be evaluated in the U.S. It's legitimate, but it's still a bit of a guessing game.

 

I think that it's easy to check whether a school is accredited in France. One just has to look at the right directory. The directory reference that PSM Paris School provides isn't the right directory to verify whether a school is accredited in the country. We're dealing with a school that's merely registered to award non-state recognized degrees. In that sense, it it no different than European International University (their linked directory also mentions them) with one significant difference: EIU has recently obtained conditional ACBSP accreditation for three business degrees, while PSM does not provide any such programmatic accreditation benefits. While this does not make the latter school state-recognized, it may result in better outcomes. Link: https://acbsp.org/members/?id=64374132

Here are the proper directories for accredited institutions in France:

Link 1: https://data.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/explore/dataset/fr-esr-principaux-etablissements-enseignement-superieur/table/?disjunctive.type_d_etablissement&disjunctive.typologie_d_universites_et_assimiles
Link 2: https://www.cge.asso.fr/membres/ecoles/
Link 3: https://www.cefdg.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BOESR-3-juillet-2025.pdf

I have not found the school on any of these lists.

Also, the Campus France website offers the following information on the so-called "Doctor of Business Administration" in France:

Link: https://www.campusfrance.org/en/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-a-doctorate-phd-and-a-dba

"Some schools, and particularly in management, offer now "Doctorate in Business Administration" (DBA). Programs are exclusively for those who want to continue their career out of the academic backdrop, because you will not graduate with a Doctorate/PhD targeted by the French government. Only a Doctorate (PhD), with registration in a Doctoral School will allow you to pass this degree.

The Doctorate/PhD implies work from the student that allows to bring a significant contribution to knowledge, while a DBA is a combination of classes and applied research work; the DBA teaches you to apply theories and knowledge in order to improve professional practice.

The first years of a DBA are generally dedicated to class attending and review of literature in relation with the research topic. The following years are dedicated to the writing of thesis and applications.

Please note that there is often confusion with schools of management offering DBAs but labelled as PhD. If you want to be granted the title of doctor of the French State, check if your targeted program includes a registration in a doctoral school."

 

This is crucial as far as I am concerned:

"These DBAs are outside the academic structure and are not certified by the French State."

Source: https://www.campusfrance.org/en/FAQ-Doctorate-France-questions

 

There is also an overview of the French degree system on the Campus France website:


This shows that only French universities can award a doctoral degree recognized by the French state. A Grand École can only award state-recognized doctorates in cooperation with an university. In this case, the degree is officially awarded by both institutions.

 

This can also be helpful if one is focusing solely on accredited French doctoral schools. You can search by region as well as two other criteria:

Directory of doctoral programs and research units;

https://appliweb.dgri.education.fr/annuaire/selectEd.jsp

As I said, the stuff is easy to locate. There is nothing complicated about it.

 

So, I asked Google's AI about PSM and how their degrees would do in a foreign degree evaluation process in the U.S. I got a whole lot of hems and haws and maybes and ifs.

Then I asked it about degrees from the Da Vinci Institute in South Africa. I got a straight-forward "you betcha." It was because of South Africa's strong higher education system coupled with the SAQA and its NQF.

I rather liked the less-ambiguous one.

 

One is the Paris School of Management, and the other is the Paris School of Business (formerly ESG-MS), part of the ESG group, which includes ESG-CI. Paris School of Business holds triple program accreditation, including AACSB.

Now it gives me an idea to open a London Management School (LMS) to compete with London Business School (LBS).