II – 2002-2006
Hard-won recognition.

From the various evaluation reports, particularly that made by the Cour des comptes, we can see a significant change during Edufrance’s second period* : the two supervisory ministries redefined the fundamental missions of (1) foreign promotion of the French higher education offering and (2) improving the arrangements for foreign students in France, emphasizing the Agency’s coordinating role in these areas*.
In addition, the Agency was asked to reexamine its commercial services with respect to receiving students and educational engineering, to develop European partnerships and rethink “its organizational future by envisaging a link-up with other structures.”  The report stated clearly that this mission of promoting and coordinating programs for foreign students was a public service mission.
A few months later, the Ministry of National Education, Advanced Instruction and Research once again stressed the Agency’s need to reflect on its strategic direction and organizational status, and “propose an organizational structure whose missions were closely in line with the expectations of French higher education institutions”; this new structure must “be able to measure up to foreign organizations and implement a pro-active and consistent policy to attract and train the world’s elite in France.”*
These instructions eventually resulted in the Audric-Binder report of January 2004, which underscored the extent to which Edufranc’s future had been in jeopardy in 2002; after a thorough presentation of the functioning of the major German and British agencies as well as the French system of scholarships, the report once again recommended a link-up between the international arms of CNOUS, Egide and Edufrance and, in one of its scenarios, suggested the inclusion of university cooperation*.

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*The Edufrance GIP agreement was renewed on October 20, 2002 for a four-year period.

*… [the Agency will fulfill this role] “by putting into place an overall program of quality and partnership with the regulatory authorities, the members and all the players and authorities active in promoting higher education and assisting foreign students.”

*Letters to Gérard Binder, Chairman of the Agency’s Board of Directors, of December 5, 2002 and June 11, 2003 respectively.

*Audric-Binder report, L’Enseignement supérieur français dans la compétition internationale. Proposition pour une Agence,  January 2004, 78 p.

It should be noted that the Agency’s new orientations seemed to satisfy educational institutions, since 167 of them, including 65 universities, signed the new GIP agreement.
During this period, Edufrance developed its expertise in terms of trade shows, gaining recognition from the European Commission which entrusted it with a major tri-annual contract to coordinate an action in Asia by the main national agencies considered at the time as model institutions: DAAD, the British Council and the Dutch agency NUFFIC. Edufrance’s network of foreign representatives expanded and their relations with diplomatic posts improved – particularly as Edufrance’s commercials aims faded and the Agency increased its capacity to meet the needs of educational institutions.
Government seminars on France’s attractiveness (in 2003, 2005 and 2006) emphasized France’s appeal in terms of higher education, thus permitting the Agency to be considered in a larger context and to be entrusted with specific projects (such as major catalog of all French educational programs accessible on internet). The ministerial departments concerned once again actively considered the idea of a unified operator dedicated to university and scientific mobility. In May 2006 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held two press conferences during which the Minister Douste-Blazy announced the creation of two major agencies, CulturesFrance and CampusFrance. With regard to the latter, he clearly alluded to the merger of the former Edufrance and the operator Egide as well as a stronger partnership with CNOUS. The resistance of the Ministry of National Education, Advanced Instruction and Research to EPIC (industrial and commercial public agency) status and its pronounced preference for a GIP, resulted in the adopting of the latter. In the meantime, the Edufrance GIP agreement had to be renewed, this time with a new increase in member institutions (189 including 72 universities).