Since Napoleon, the base of French education has been the lycée, a state-funded and -controlled secondary school (the equivalent of American high school), which awards the baccalaurét degree. There are also a number of non-state secondary schools, now generally run by the Catholic Church, which are called collèges. (State schools for children at the junior high level are now also called collèges.) All students in the final year of the lycée take at least two hours of philosophy per week, and there are, accordingly, about 8000 teachers of philosophy in the lycées.

Undergraduate university studies begin with two years of work in a broadly defined area of specialization (for example, philosophy), followed by two or three years of more advanced study in the same area. Students completing the third year receive a licence in their area of specialization, and those completing the fourth year receive a maîtrise. (The first two years are now called the premier cycle and lead to a Diplôme d'Études Universitaires Générates (DEUG); the next two years constitute the deuxième cycle.) Graduate education (now called the troisième cycle) has taken various forms over the twentieth century. Currently, the first year of graduate studies leads to a Diplome d'Études Approfondies (DEA), the rough equivalent of an American master's degree, which is where most graduate students end their studies. Further work is directed toward a doctoral degree.