 Peñalosa claims he earned a Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées (DESS) at the University of Paris.In response to these allegations, he has claimed that this DESS title has been repeatedly misinterpreted as a PhD.Further investigation into his studies revealed that he earned a graduate degree in Government Affairs at the University of Paris II, and later earning a DESS at the Institut international d’administration publique (also known as "École nationale de la France d'outre-mer"), which in 2002 was merged into École nationale d'administration.