Institut Catholique de Paris

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Institut Catholique de Paris or Catholic Institute of Paris is a private university. In France, though, the term university can only be used by state institutions of higher learning.

The institute offers licentiates, masters and doctoral degrees in various faculties. The Faculté de Théologie is a pontifical institution with the canonical authorization to educate men for the Catholic priesthood. The Faculté de Lettres is simply a school of the humanities with no obvious religious bias.

Professors at the institute are recruited from sacred (i.e., theology, canon law, etc.) and secular disciplines (e.g., letters, philosophy, education, social sciences, economics). The majority of degrees and diplomas awarded by the institute are state-authorised diplomas, as the institute is certified to issue them by the Ministry of Education.

Canonical degrees are awarded in the name of the Holy See and are the result of a prescribed course of study in the ecclesiastical faculties, such as theology and canon law.

The institute belongs to the network of the UDESCA (Union of the Catholic Higher Educational Establishments) which includes the five French Catholic institutes - Paris, Lille, Lyon, Angers and Toulouse - and associates with the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FICU), comprising 200 Catholic universities throughout the world.

The Institut Catholique charges tuition, as the state does not pay the wages of teachers at Catholic institutions of higher learning, as authorized under the Debré Law of 1959. The institute receives a state subsidy which covers 34% of its financial needs.

The amount of subsidy, emanating from the Ministry for National Education, is independently fixed by the government, each year, within the framework of the national budget, without obligation or contract of any kind. The institute accepts likewise.