ETH Zurich & EPFL: Tuition Fees and Admission

The Two Federal Institutes

ETH Zurich and EPFL are Switzerland’s two federal institutes of technology. Unlike the cantonal universities, they are funded by the Swiss Confederation and governed by a single federal board, which is why they share a fee structure and change it together.

Why they are treated as one system

Because the federal board sets fees for both, a change at one applies at the other. That is what happened with the recent tuition decision, and it is why this guide covers them together rather than separately.

The language reality

At bachelor level, teaching is in German at ETH Zurich and French at EPFL, so an international applicant needs the relevant language at a high level. At master level, most teaching is in English at both, which is why the overwhelming majority of international students enter at master’s or doctoral level rather than as undergraduates.

The Two Tuition Groups Explained

The federal board tripled the tuition fee for students who move to Switzerland in order to study. Instead of one flat rate for everyone, there are now two groups: CHF 730 per semester for the first, and CHF 2,190 per semester for the second.

Which group am I in?

This is the part almost every other guide gets wrong. The split is not decided by your passport. According to the institutions’ own published rules, the lower fee applies to students who were resident in Switzerland or Liechtenstein at the time they obtained their university entrance qualification — the school-leaving certificate such as a Matura or Abitur — and this applies regardless of nationality.

For other foreign students, the lower fee applies only in defined permit situations, for example holding EU or EFTA citizenship together with a Swiss residence permit carrying the right to gainful employment, or a settlement permit, obtained before starting studies. A permit noting a right to work only up to a limited number of hours per week is expressly not sufficient.

The transition rules, and the trap inside them

Students already enrolled before the change continue paying the previous rate — but only until they finish the degree they are on. Moving from a bachelor’s programme to a master’s programme counts as starting a new degree, and the higher fee then applies. Anyone planning to continue from bachelor to master at these institutions should budget for that step change rather than assuming continuity.

Other compulsory charges

On top of tuition there are modest compulsory semester charges covering the student association, the academic sports association and a scholarship fund. They add up to a small figure next to tuition, but they are not optional and appear on the same invoice.

Doctoral candidates

Doctoral study is not covered by these fee groups in the same way. Doctoral researchers are employed and paid, and their charges are limited — the substantive point is that a doctorate here earns you money rather than costing it. See the doctoral tab.

Bachelor Admission

Undergraduate admission is the hardest route for international applicants, for two reasons: your school-leaving qualification must be recognised as equivalent to the Swiss Matura, and teaching is in German at ETH Zurich and French at EPFL.

The recognition question

Each institution publishes a country-by-country list of which school qualifications it recognises and on what conditions — often specifying required subjects, minimum grades, or a national university entrance examination already passed in your home country. Where a qualification does not meet the conditions, the route is an entrance examination covering mathematics, sciences and language.

The language requirement

Because bachelor teaching is in the local language, you must prove a high level in it. This is not a formality: lectures, examinations and coursework are all conducted in that language from the first week. Applicants without it usually need a preparatory year before they can begin.

A realistic assessment

Worked example. An applicant with a strong science school certificate and no German has three options: spend a year reaching the required German level and then apply; apply to an English-taught bachelor elsewhere in Europe and come to Switzerland for a master’s; or target a master’s here directly after completing a bachelor’s at home. For most applicants the third route is both cheaper and more likely to succeed — which is why international enrolment at these institutions is concentrated at master’s level and above.

Master Admission

This is the main international entry point. Most master’s teaching at both institutions is in English, and admission is decided on the fit between your bachelor’s degree and the specific programme.

What the committees assess

• Subject match. Your bachelor’s must cover the foundations the programme assumes. A close match in a relevant discipline outweighs a stronger record in a distant one.
• Academic performance, read in the context of your own university and grading system.
• The institution you studied at, since committees consider the standard of the awarding university.
• Language proof, normally an English test unless your previous degree was taught in English.
• Letters and a statement of purpose where the programme requires them.

Admission is genuinely selective

Both institutions receive far more applications than places from international candidates, and admission with conditions — requiring you to complete additional coursework in your first year — is common. Read any conditional offer carefully, because those extra credits affect both your workload and, potentially, the length of your stay.

Deadlines run early

Application windows for the autumn intake close many months in advance, typically in the winter beforehand, and separate earlier deadlines often apply to applicants who need a visa. Because the permit process afterwards is cantonal and can take weeks, applying in the first window rather than the last is the difference between arriving on time and deferring a year.

Scholarships at the Federal Institutes

Both institutions run excellence programmes for master’s applicants that are among the most valuable in Europe — and correspondingly among the most competitive.

How they work

The typical structure combines a full tuition waiver with a living allowance, which together can cover the whole cost of a master’s degree in one of the world’s most expensive countries. Selection is based on academic excellence, and the pool is global.

How to apply

At ETH Zurich the excellence scholarship application is integrated into the regular master’s application — in practice you indicate your interest as part of applying, rather than submitting a separate file later. EPFL runs its own excellence fellowships for master’s students on comparable lines. Because the mechanics differ and change, read the current instructions on each institution’s own financial aid pages before you submit anything.

Federal and other funding

• Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships — the federal programme for research stays and doctoral study, applied for through the Swiss embassy in your own country.
• Assistantship positions — some departments offer paid research or teaching assistant roles to master’s students, which offset a meaningful share of living costs.
• Doctoral positions — not scholarships at all, but salaried employment, and by far the most reliable funding route.

The honest advice

Treat these scholarships as an upside, not a plan. Applicants who can only attend if they win one should also hold an offer they can afford — or aim at doctoral level, where funding comes as a salary rather than a competition.

Doctoral Study

At both federal institutes a doctorate is salaried employment. You are hired by a research group, paid a Swiss salary set by published rates, and treated as staff rather than as a fee-paying student.

How positions are filled

Doctoral positions are advertised by individual professors and research groups when funding is available, and recruitment runs like a job process rather than an admissions round. You apply to a specific position with a specific supervisor.

• Advertised vacancies — browse live postdoctoral, faculty and PhD positions from universities worldwide on the UpperCareers jobs board.
• Doctoral schools and programmes — some departments run structured programmes with fixed annual intakes.
• Direct approach — writing to a professor whose work matches yours, which only succeeds when it is specific.

Finding the right group

The hard part is identifying who genuinely works on your topic. The UpperCareers Supervisor Finder searches 347,467 active researchers worldwide by research topic, university, or country, with every match scored and explained — which beats reading departmental staff lists one by one.

What the salary means

Doctoral salaries at the federal institutes follow published fixed rates that rise with progression, and they are set at a level that supports living independently in Zurich or Lausanne. Rates are adjusted periodically, so check the institution’s current salary page rather than relying on any figure quoted second-hand — including in older articles. Full detail is in our PhD in Switzerland guide.

Living Costs in Zurich and Lausanne

Tuition is the small part of the bill. Using the institution’s own published cost figures, a student’s annual living costs in the Zurich area run to roughly four to five times the higher tuition rate.

Where the money goes

• Rent — by far the largest item, and the one that varies most. University housing is cheaper where available but is not guaranteed.
• Meals — university canteens are substantially cheaper than eating out, which in Switzerland is expensive.
• Health insurance — compulsory, and a fixed monthly cost that non-EU students in particular cannot avoid.
• Transport — a student travel pass and the national half-fare card together make Swiss public transport manageable.
• Study materials — modest in most subjects, but substantially higher in architecture, where excursions and model-making add real cost.

How students actually cope

Three things make the difference: securing university or subsidised housing early, eating on campus, and — after the first six months, when work becomes permitted — a part-time assistantship in your own department, which pays better than most casual work and is relevant to your degree. Remember that no earnings can substitute for the proof of funds at permit stage.

Official Websites for ETH and EPFL Applicants

Fees, admission conditions and salary rates are published by the institutions and the federal authorities. Because they are periodically revised, always read the current page rather than a summary.

Every site above is run by a Swiss federal authority, a cantonal authority, or the public body representing the Swiss universities. Because migration and education are administered cantonally, your own canton’s page is the final authority on anything that varies.

Frequently Asked Questions