Each institution sets its own semester fee, the same for EU and non-EU students – e.g. CHF 500 at the University of Lausanne and CHF 2,190 for international students at ETH Zurich. Switzerland has 10 cantonal universities, 2 federal institutes of technology and universities of applied sciences, with more than 4,000 programmes in total. Find out when to apply, how to plan your budget and how many hours you may work.
Most programmes have no entrance exams – your school leaving certificate is what counts. The exception is medicine: you register through swissuniversities by 15 February and take the aptitude test for medical studies (EMS).
Note: only some foreign nationals are admitted to medicine – among others, holders of a settlement permit (C) who live in Switzerland, or EU/EFTA citizens who work in Switzerland in a medical profession. If you come to Switzerland only to study, you usually won't meet these conditions.
Sources: European Commission – Study in Europe (education.ec.europa.eu/study-in-europe), Eurostat, official national study and residence portals and authorities, Eurodesk, enic-naric.net, studentnews.eu. As of September 2026.
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