Universities
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There are 12 recognised universities in Switzerland: 10 cantonal universities and 2 Federal Institutes of Technology. In German-speaking Switzerland, there are 5 universities (Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zurich) as well as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. The University of Fribourg is located in the bilingual canton Fribourg (French and German). The Universities of Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel are located in French-speaking Switzerland, as is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. The Università della Svizzera italiana (University of Lugano) is situated in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking canton Ticino.
Other higher education institutions include the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration in Lausanne, the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch in Sion and the private Foundation for Swiss Correspondence Studies in Brig. The Confederation's ETH domain encompasses the 2 Federal Institutes of Technology as well as the following 4 research institutes: the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology.
University education is publicly funded. While there are a number of private universities and institutions in Switzerland which offer courses and qualifications, these are mostly not recognised. To date, a small number of private university institutions or study courses from private university institutions have been accredited by the Swiss University Conference (SUC).
Core tasks
The core tasks of the universities include university teaching (education and continuing education), research and development, the provision of services and the cooperation with other national and international universities and research institutes.
Governance and general conditions
University education is publicly funded. While there are a number of private universities and institutions in Switzerland which offer courses and qualifications, these are mostly not recognised. To date, a small number of private university institutions or study courses from private university institutions have been accredited by the Swiss University Conference (SUC).
Core tasks
The core tasks of the universities include university teaching (education and continuing education), research and development, the provision of services and the cooperation with other national and international universities and research institutes.
Governance and general conditions
 | According to the legal framework, the universities have considerable academic, financial, and organisational autonomy. As public institutions, they regulate and administrate their affairs independently and have freedom of teaching and research. |
| The Confederation governs the ETH domain: it operates and regulates the 2 Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH) as well as the 4 Federal Research Institutes. |
| The cantons are responsible for the cantonal universities and have regulatory powers over them. |
| For cooperation in the field of university policy, the Swiss University Conference (SUC) constitutes the joint body of the Confederation and the university cantons and has the power to enforce a number of decisions in defined areas. |
| The Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS) comprises the rectors of the universities. This conference represents the universities as a whole and promotes coordination and cooperation in teaching, research and services. |
| Within the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), the State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) is the Confederation's expert authority on national and international questions of general education, university education, scientific research, applied research and space travel. With regard to universities, the tasks of the SER encompass the coordination of Swiss university policy and research policy, the promotion of cantonal universities, European education programmes, research funding etc. |
| At the universities, accreditation has so far occurred on a voluntary basis. Any university institutions which nevertheless wish to achieve state recognition and to receive financial aid from the Confederation must, according to the Federal Law on the Financial Aid to Universities and on Inter-University Cooperation, provide high-quality services, which have been assessed by the Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance of the Swiss Universities (OAQ), on behalf of which the Swiss University Conference (SUC) decides on the accreditation of institutions and study courses. In future, accreditation in the field of higher education is to be uniformly regulated. |
Legal basis
Federal Constitution Article 63a stipulates that the Confederation and the cantons are to jointly provide for coordination and quality assurance in the higher education system. The new university article provides the basis for the reorganisation of the higher education system, which will change the existing legal basis of the universities (cantonal universities and Federal Institutes of Technology) - but also that of the universities of applied sciences.
Federal Constitution Article 63a stipulates that the Confederation and the cantons are to jointly provide for coordination and quality assurance in the higher education system. The new university article provides the basis for the reorganisation of the higher education system, which will change the existing legal basis of the universities (cantonal universities and Federal Institutes of Technology) - but also that of the universities of applied sciences.
| The cantonal universities are regulated by the cantons in which they are based, or which are responsible for them, in corresponding cantonal laws and regulations. |
| The 1991 Federal Law on the Federal Institutes of Technology constitutes the legal basis of the Federal Institutes of Technology. |
| The purpose of the 1999 Federal Law on the Financial Aid to Universities and on Inter-University Cooperation is not only that of coordination and cooperation in the field of higher education, but also to provide federal financial aid to the university cantons in order to advance the quality of teaching and research and to enable modern development of the universities. The Federal Law on the Financial Aid to Universities and on Inter-University Cooperation is to be replaced by the new Federal Law on the Advancement of Universities and Coordination in Swiss Higher Education, which is to apply to cantonal universities and Federal Institutes of Technology, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education. |
| With regard to universities, the cantons regulate inter-cantonal cooperation and cooperation with the Confederation on the basis of the 1999 Inter-Cantonal Concordat on University Coordination and in the 2000 agreement between the Confederation and the university cantons on cooperation in the university domain (Cooperation Agreement). Both agreements are also to be replaced by the new regulations on higher education. |
| In the Inter-Cantonal University Agreement of 1997, the cantons regulated the equal rights of inter-cantonal access to the universities and the payments made by the cantons to the university cantons. |
| The Swiss University Conference (SUC) has issued various guidelines, which apply to areas such as accreditation, the Bologna Reform, quality assurance and others. |
| Further information on universities |
 | Developments |
| Statistical data |
| Terms of admission |
| Course contents |
| Organisation |
| Further education |
| Institutions responsible for Swiss Universities |
 | State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) |
| Swiss University Conference (SUC) |
| Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS) |
| Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) |
| Universities and other higher education institutions |
