You're probably referring to the Ecole Polytechnique. Indeed newly graduates are supposed to work as a civil servant or pay the "pantoufle", which according to

You're probably referring to the Ecole Polytechnique. Indeed newly graduates are supposed to work as a civil servant or pay the "pantoufle", which according to [1] is roughly 45000€, and as of last May when the article was written, it says only 10% of the graduates were paying it, but the government was starting to go after them. [1]In French: http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/polytechnique-le-gouvernement-s-attaque-a-la-pantoufle-24-05-2015-1930807_23.php http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/polytechnique-le-gouvernement-...