French Schools Asked To Sell Their Vineyards

PARIS — Cash-strapped French universities should sell off their prized possessions, including chateaux and vineyards, to invest more in core services, the country's higher education minister has said.

Valerie Pecresse made the suggestion amid heated negotiations with student unions over plans by President Sarkozy's government to reform the country's university system.

Since the May 1968 student uprisings, French leaders have treated university reform with care. Mr. Sarkozy's proposals were postponed yesterday amid threats of a "summer of discontent."

One element of the reform is to end state control of how universities spend their money and to give them greater freedom to manage their own budgets.

Mr. Sarkozy hopes this could lead to private investment and greater competition.

This freedom could lead many of the country's 85 universities to decide to sell off high-maintenance properties.

According to Le Figaro newspaper, the Universities of Paris, a grouping that includes the Sorbonne, owns a string of properties, such as the 1,180-acre Richelieu estate in the Indre-et-Loire and the villa Finaly in Florence.

In all, Parisian universities own more than 183 million square feet of real estate.