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Student engagement to universities and the inherent tensions : social adaptation to student life, “cobbled together” learning and future projectsFor more than two decades, the impact of a “higher education for the masses” has been 1) to reduce the status of universities, as evidenced by a keen interest in courses/institutions for which students are selected, for example, cpge (Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles), sts (Sciences, Technologies, Santé), iut (Institut Universitaire de Technologie), and 2) to further add to the difficulties first year degree students have in engaging with their university. If these difficulties are linked to the low levels of attainment at baccalaureate, they also stem from a university structure which requires students to construct their own role and interpret their new experience with all its inherent tensions. The aim of this article, which derives from work in the field amongst first year students, is to highlight the nature of these tensions across the following three aspects : how students adapt socially to their studies and university norms, how students learn and how students prepare for the future. The conclusions of the study open the debate on the manner in which universities operate and the issues surrounding the induction of a body of students who are particularly concerned about academic democratisation.