Organization

The Swiss have a double educational system with 14 public institutions (state or cantonal, and federal) including the two Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich, and numerous private schools usually with religious or foreign affiliations (from North America especially) qualifying as specialized graduate schools (engineering schools, business schools, etc.). Some of these establishments have great international reputations in the areas of management, tourism, administration, business, and the hotel industry. The training delivered is in all cases of extremely high quality and marked by excellence. Public professional education is administered through the schools of applied sciences, which offer three-year programs in the areas of science, architecture, administration, economics, etc. Certain schools have adopted the European system of course credits for a better equivalency system.

Academic calendar: The academic year is divided into semesters: winter term, from mid-October to February, and summer term, from mid-March to the end of June. It is best to begin with the winter term. The five-week interterm is often used for writing papers…and skiing!

Language of teaching: You will find an enormous number of programs offered partly or entirely in English. It is much rarer to find schools that only teach in the local language (German, French, or Italian), and these would mostly be public schools. Certain establishments such as the University of Fribourg offer bilingual education (French/German in this case).