Between 1869 and 1969, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the School is reinforced and reaches maturity. Both its resilience and adaptability are proven: on the one hand, a significant expansion of programmes and enrolments (from a few dozen students in the 1820s, to 250 at the end of the 19th century and nearly a thousand by the 1970s); and on the other, enhanced selectivity and increased academic requirements from the 1920s onwards, including:

• State recognition of education in 1890
• Establishment of the first specialisation sections, a legacy of the "Comptoirs" (trading posts) invented in the early years of the School: Maritime section (1905), Colonial section (1913), Hotel section (1916), Trade Representation section (1917), etc.
• Mandatory competitive entrance exam in 1926
• Promotion to the status of higher education establishment in 1947, an essential step towards the gradual transformation into a Grande École de Commerce
• Creation of the Alumni Association and Student Union in 1950
• Integration of IT and a language laboratory in the 1960s

During a turbulent century during which the city of Paris was hit by armed conflicts three times, the School premises are transformed to accommodate the war wounded (in 1870, 1914-1918, and 1939-1945) - twice in the buildings on Avenue de la République.

When the School gains its autonomy in 1969 by leaving the ESCAE network, ESCP gradually reinvents its business model, based on the values and academic principles that have been instilled since 1819.

The new integrated European campus model results from the continued growth of a 150-year-old institution, as a response to budding economic globalisation.

This transformation takes place in the context of intensification and enlargement of the European Union.

Five milestones mark the progress of reinventing the new European model: 1969, 1973, 1999, and 2009:

• 1969: Creation of a dedicated permanent Faculty and the Student Association Tribunes ESCP.
• 1973: On 8th October 1973, the École des Affaires de Paris (named l'École Européenne des Affaires from 1982 onwards) is created, wherein students follow an international curriculum with alternating semesters in major European capitals (London from 1974, Düsseldorf from 1975 (campus transferred to Berlin in 1985). 1973 is also the year when the School becomes accessible to women (Joëlle Le Vourch is the first female student in 1973).
• 1999: Merger of ESCP and EAP
• 2009: Creation of ESCP, following an intensified network expansion with the opening of the Turin campus in 2004, and preceding the Warsaw campus in 2015.
• 2018: ESCP becomes independent from the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The launching of the European Bachelor degree is launched, anchoring the School in the European LMD model and triggering strong growth. The student population doubles in 4 years.

Over two centuries, the world has changed: the political economics classes taught at the beginning now side with humanities-oriented courses, and applied sciences in a laboratory have given way to coding and big data. However, it is still the entrepreneurial vision of the founders that prevails today, shining through in aspects such as the European success of the Blue Factory, the School's incubator present on all ESCP campuses!