The Paris Institute of Political Studies (, also known as Sciences Po or Sciences Po Paris) is a public research university, with the status of grande école and grand établissement, located in Paris, France, with further campuses in Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Poitiers and Reims. Sciences Po offers courses and conducts research in political science, history, economics, law and sociology. The institute was established in 1872 by Émile Boutmy as the École libre des sciences politiques, a private and independent institution of higher education, founded in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War with the stated objective of renewing the training of the political elites and thereby contributing to ameliorating the nation's fortunes after its defeat of 1870. Boutmy aimed at modernising education for French civil servants, by offering additional teachings in political sciences, a relatively new field of study at the time. Students would follow traditional courses as a primary education, usually the classics or the law at the Sorbonne. In 1945, the school was nationalised and re-established as a public institution, after criticism of the attitude of its staff during the Second World War and subsequent calls for its closure. After a reform in 1985, Sciences Po began offering full degrees in the social sciences as primary education for its students. Since the mid-1990s, Sciences Po’'s curriculum has been substantially reformed beyond in social sciences beyond political sciences. As of 2021, 80% of Sciences Po graduates choose careers in the private sector. The institute is a member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) and CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences. History 1872 to 1945: Free School of Political Sciences Sciences Po was established in February 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques (ELSP) by a group of French intellectuals, politicians and businessmen led by Émile Boutmy, and including Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel and Paul Leroy Beaulieu. The creation of the school was in response to widespread fears that the inadequacy of the French political and diplomatic corps would further diminish the country's international stature, as France grappled with a series of crises, including the defeat in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, the demise of Napoleon III, and the upheaval and massacre resulting from Paris Commune. The founders of the school sought to reform the training of French politicians by establishing a new "breeding ground where nearly all the major, non-technical