Back-to-School 2026: emlyon strengthens the student experience and expands its academic portfolio
Aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 15, dedicated to protecting life on land, the 2026 intake at emlyon business school welcomed nearly 4,000 new students across its Lyon, Paris, and Shanghai campuses. New programs, enhanced financial support initiatives, the upcoming opening of a CROUS student restaurant on the Lyon campus, and impact-driven onboarding experiences reflect the School's ongoing commitment to enriching the student experience and fostering cross-disciplinary expertise.
The climate-related events of this summer serve as a reminder that the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of our societies and organizations. emlyon is fully committed to educating managers and decision-makers who can understand these transformations and act responsibly.
This commitment takes shape from the very beginning of the academic year through keynote sessions dedicated to these challenges and redesigned orientation experiences. On just their second day at the School, new students take part in an Impact-focused Back-to-School Experience. Working in teams, they tackle around twenty challenges developed in partnership with non-profit organizations, addressing issues such as deforestation, biodiversity protection, and climate change.
Affordable dining options from the first quarter of 2027
As a Mission-Driven Company, emlyon continues to strengthen its commitments, particularly in social inclusion. A Crous student restaurant will open on the School's Lyon campus during the first quarter of 2027.
This initiative builds on the range of measures already introduced by the School to support students in financing their studies, including full tuition waivers for Crous scholarship recipients in the PGE (scholarship levels 4 to 7), scholarships funded by the emlyon Foundation, and access to preferential-rate bank loans.
The School's support strategy also reflects its commitment to international openness. Selected to join the Lafayette Fellowship funding program, emlyon will welcome high-potential American students into its Programme Grande École (PGE) from September 2027 onward. Supported by the French Embassy in the United States, the program provides funding covering tuition fees, accommodation, and living expenses.
New programs designed to foster cross-disciplinary expertise
To address the evolving needs of organizations and the increasing convergence of skills across disciplines, emlyon business school is expanding its academic portfolio with the launch of two new MSc programs in September 2026:
MSc in Branding & Communication: designed to prepare future professionals to develop, embody, and lead high-impact branding and communication strategies;
MSc in Strategic Intelligence & Global Risks: positioned at the intersection of geopolitics, risk management, collective intelligence, and corporate strategy, this program equips future professionals with the ability to design and implement intelligence strategies that collect, analyze, and disseminate information to support high-stakes decision-making
These new programs are accompanied by the recruitment of 15 new faculty members. They join a faculty of 190 professors and researchers, reflecting the international attractiveness of emlyon business school and strengthening the global reach of its programs and research activities. Many conduct their research and teaching at the intersection of management, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence, further reinforcing the School's expertise in responding to major societal and organizational transformations.
By investing simultaneously in academic excellence, social inclusion, and the quality of the student experience, emlyon is pursuing a clear ambition: to educate informed professionals capable of contributing to a fair and sustainable transformation of society.