In an interview with Le Monde, Philippe Baptiste, French Higher Education Minister since December 2024, apologizes for calling universities a 'bunch of losers' during a Senate hearing. He addresses budgetary constraints preventing student scholarship reforms in 2026 and calls for debate on uneven university funding. The minister denies pressuring the cancellation of a Palestine colloquium at the Collège de France.
Philippe Baptiste, in office since December 2024, faces tight budgetary margins in higher education, research, and space. In this interview with Le Monde on November 22, 2025, he explains that no student scholarship reforms will be possible in 2026, nor any increase in university funding.
The minister nevertheless wants to open a debate with all stakeholders on the heterogeneity of allocations between institutions. He positions himself on issues like autonomy and university objectives.
Questioned about his statements on October 29 before the Senate commission, where he called universities a 'bunch of losers' and 'lagging behind' for their low success in European project calls like ERCs (European Research Council), Baptiste clarifies: 'My remarks never concerned the teacher-researchers. I used these words to mock the policy for which we are collectively responsible ourselves, and if that's not how they were understood, I am sorry.' He expresses frustration over insufficient success rates: 'There is incredible potential in universities to obtain ERCs, which provide research time and financial resources for institutions. It is frustrating for the minister, for the teacher-researchers, and for the universities that we do not achieve better success rates. I know we can do better.'
Baptiste also denies exerting pressure to cancel a colloquium on Palestine at the Collège de France in mid-November. He insists on avoiding a solely 'miserabilist' view of the university, highlighting its strengths despite the challenges.