Why ESCP’s New Dubai Campus Is a Game-Changer For Indian Students

Founded in 1819, ESCP Business School is the world’s oldest business school, with campuses in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Turin, Warsaw, London, and now Dubai. Known for its strong entrepreneurial spirit, ESCP was recently ranked among the top five European universities whose alumni raised the most startup funding.

In a conversation with The Free Press Journal, Professor Léon Laulusa, Dean of ESCP, shares what makes ESCP appealing to Indian students, highlights scholarship support, and explains why Dubai is fast emerging as a key education hub for global talent.

FPJ: What makes ESCP Business School attractive to Indian students?

Prof. Laulusa: Entrepreneurship is embedded in our DNA — and it shows. Out of 34 tech unicorns globally, seven were founded by our alumni. Another key factor that attracts Indian students is our international outlook. Of our 11,000 students, only one-third are French; the rest come from 136 different countries. This diversity creates a unique multicultural environment — we often describe ESCP as a "small United Nations."

We also operate a truly pan-European model, with campuses in Paris (our headquarters), Berlin, Madrid, Turin, Warsaw, and London, along with a new campus in Dubai. Importantly, we are recognised by the higher education ministries in each country where we operate. This means we can award local degrees — French, German, British, and now Emirati — which gives our students visa sponsorship and work rights. For international students, including Indians, this simplifies the process of finding part-time work during their studies and full-time employment afterward. They are allowed to stay up to two years post-graduation with sponsorship.

FPJ: What's the number of Indian students among 11,000, & what's the gender breakdown?

Prof. Laulusa: Indian students make up the third-largest group on our campuses, after French and Italian students. Currently, we have around 700 Indian students enrolled across various programs—from bachelor's and master's to PhDs. In terms of gender ratio among Indian students, it's approximately 40% women and 60% men.

FPJ: Which programs are most popular among Indian male and female students?

Prof. Laulusa: Our most popular program among Indian students is the Master in Management (MIM)—a two-year flagship program. We also see strong interest in our one-year full-time MBA and a wide range of specialised master's programs, especially in areas like audit, strategy, big data, marketing, communications, luxury management, and hospitality.

In terms of gender preferences, there are some noticeable patterns. Male Indian students tend to gravitate towards programs like audit, big data, and business analytics, while female Indian students are more drawn to luxury management, hospitality, and marketing & creativity. So yes, in programs like luxury management and hospitality, we see a higher proportion of Indian women than men.

FPJ: Will ESCP Business School launch new programs soon?

Prof. Laulusa: Yes, we recently introduced a Master of Science in Luxury Management, which is delivered across our Turin and Paris campuses. This program has already attracted interest from Indian candidates. We’re also considering launching executive-level programs in areas like strategy and leadership to further strengthen our already comprehensive portfolio. Currently, we offer around 30 Master of Science programs.

FPJ: Are there under-promoted programs with potential in India?

Prof. Laulusa: Yes. One such area is hospitality management. We have an excellent Master of Science in Hospitality program, developed in collaboration with Cornell University, a global leader in this field. Despite the program’s quality and India’s growing tourism and service industry, we’ve noticed relatively lower uptake from Indian students — something we’d love to change. Another promising area is business analytics—it’s a booming field globally, and India is well-positioned to lead in this space. Looking ahead, we’re exploring emerging fields like business diplomacy and space economy. For instance, in our flagship Master in Management (MiM) program, we’re introducing new content on the space economy, which is highly relevant to India given its advancements in space exploration. This field goes beyond satellites — it includes telecommunications, energy, data control, and even cybersecurity — all of which are critical to future global business. These are the areas we believe Indian students should explore more.

FPJ: How does ESCP support Indian students with scholarships and accommodation?

Prof. Laulusa: A: We help students at ESCP in two ways when it comes to scholarships. First, outstanding students can approach government-sponsored schemes such as Campus France, which offers funding opportunities. Second, ESCP gives merit-based scholarships. These can range from 50% of tuition charges or more, depending on the student's academic performance and requirements. Furthermore, our ESCP Foundation also supports financing living costs, including housing and everyday necessities. To give you an idea, last year, ESCP awarded €9 million in scholarships to students across the world. This year, we’ve increased that to €10 million. 

Our campuses are in city centres, so we don't provide on-campus dorms. But we do have trusted accommodation partners, and we provide comprehensive support to enable students to find a place to stay. We also have an online platform that lists verified accommodation providers, and we even have a specialist team providing advice and guidance during the process of finding housing. Therefore, although we don't have dorms on-site, our students get access to an enormous range of secure and comfortable accommodation centres across all the cities we have operations.

FPJ: How does ESCP support Indian students' mental health?

Prof. Laulusa: We subscribe to something I refer to as AP3—academic, professional, and personal fulfilment and physical well-being. It's our approach to making sure that a student is not only successful but also balanced and happy while with us.

1. A for Academic Achievements: We ensure students get a world-class education, enabling them to make sound decisions and decipher real-life issues. Intellectual stimulus is central to their development.

2. P for Professional Fulfilment: Each student possesses a special strength — we refer to it as their "crazy skill." By way of career services and talent development, we assist in pairing those passions and strengths with professional opportunities that are right for them.

3. P for Personal Fulfilment: With hundreds of student clubs — ranging from cultural and business societies to sports and music — students discover lively communities to engage with. 

4. P for Physical & Mental Resilience: We encourage activities such as meditation, mindfulness, and sports to enable students to develop mental toughness and remain energetic. We consider our students as "corporate" athletes—individuals who need to perform not only in brief bursts but over a long, changing career. 

FPJ: Is Dubai a key attraction for Indian students considering ESCP?

Prof. Laulusa: The Middle East is indeed an important region for us, and we’re fortunate to have a presence across different countries there. Among them, Dubai stands out as a particularly strategic location. Dubai is also the seat of numerous multinational companies and is highly multicultural, with hundreds of different nationalities residing and working alongside each other. This creates an exciting place to be not only for business but also to learn — most notably from a global standpoint.

The UAE government has been highly proactive, too, bringing in institutions like ours to enhance the local and regional talent pools and to entice top-class international students from across the globe, including, of course, several from India. The corporate houses in the region are hungry for qualified graduates, and Indian students are among the most desired ones thanks to their quality educational background and versatility.

That’s why, for ESCP, being present in Dubai is both a strategic and meaningful decision — to serve this growing market and to educate future responsible leaders in one of the world’s most exciting emerging hubs for education and business.

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