Meet the Class of 2026

As the semester comes to an end, the Menton Times brings you our annual class profile. The class of 2026 answered our anonymous survey on their backgrounds, ambitions, and lifestyles. We have drawn comparisons to our profile on the Class of 2025, but do not have official data on the makeup of either class. Due to rounding, statistics may not total 100 percent.

Demographics

Unsurprisingly, Menton has maintained its gender ratio; 71.6% of students identify as female and only 23.9% are male. However, the number of students of West Asian or North African descent has decreased from the previous year, making up only 22.4% of students. For the first time, we surveyed sexuality and found 31.3% of survey respondents identify as a member of the LBGTQ+ community. 

Socioeconomic backgrounds have diversified slightly, but Sciences Po remains predominantly middle class, with 60.7% identifying as such, 20.9% defining themselves with high socioeconomic status, and 13.4% with low.

With a campus as international as ours, it is also no surprise that the overwhelming majority (71.6%) hold more than one nationality and span across six different continents. 

Religion & Politics

Survey results show that the class is much more religious than their preceding counterparts; 64.2% said religion plays a role in their life, with 37.3% saying religion plays somewhat of a role, 19.4% as a moderate role, and 7.5% said it plays a very large role. 

By comparison, only 48.7% of the Class of 2025 said that religion played a role in their lives. Within this demographic, however, this year’s class had much larger amounts of moderate and somewhat religious students and fewer students who consider themselves “very” religious. 

Politically, students tend to lean left — 55.5% declared their political persuasion as left, a slightly lower percentage than last year’s class. Many more students consider themselves as center, with 28.4% reporting such compared to 17.9% last year. The extreme left had 6% of respondents, and none reported for the extreme right, a decrease in both categories since the previous survey.

When it comes to drinking, 77.3% said they drink alcohol, while 21.2% said they did not. Last year, only 68.1% of students chose to drink, while 29.2% chose to remain sober.

The Path to Sciences Po

Approximately 16.4% of students are in one of the seven offered dual degree programs, programs where students attend Sciences Po and a partner university and graduate with two Bachelor’s degrees. 

Columbia University remains the most popular dual degree, with 60% of dual degree students attending after their first two years. Students are also in the University of California Berkeley, University of British Columbia, University College London, and the University of Sydney dual degree programs.

For 83.6% of respondents, Sciences Po was their first choice university. This is a significant decrease from last year’s 94.7%. Fewer students also intend to do their masters at Sciences Po; only 64.2% said yes, an 11% decrease. There are fewer legacy students, albeit only by a 1.3% difference. 

Beyond Menton

Regarding careers, most students chose government, which comprised 35.8% of students, while 20.9% plan on working in an NGO, followed by law and academia, with 11.9% and 10.4% of students, respectively. Roughly 4% plan on pursuing journalism, while both business and arts had 3% each. The remainder of the students are still undecided.