In French law, établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPSCP; English: public scientific, cultural or professional establishment) is a formal category of more than one hundred and thirty public higher education institutes in the fields of sciences, culture and professional education. EPSCP have legal, administrative and financial autonomy in the French education system. EPSCP category includes: * public universities, per se * four groups of other institutes with an operational status equivalent to a university.