STUDY IN SWITZERLAND

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but its universities are still accessible to foreign students including French students. As Switzerland has signed the Bologna Declaration, it applies the LMD system (license, master and doctorate) used in France.

Our guide to study in Switzerland:

Do an internship in Switzerland
Au Pair holiday in Switzerland
The university system in Switzerland
Make an Erasmus in Switzerland
The cost of studies in Switzerland

Study in Switzerland: the steps

A French student wishing to study in Switzerland will have to present many documents but he is not obliged to have a visa. He will have to make a request for a stay, a certificate of registration at a Swiss university, proof of sufficient financial means to cover all the costs of a student and a certificate of residence at the place of study (or nearby) .

To go to study in Switzerland, no need to upgrade to languages! Switzerland has 4 official languages, French, German, Italian and Romansh, so you have to master one of these languages ​​to study in this country. On the other hand, the official language varies according to the regions, the French being mostly spoken in French-speaking Switzerland

 In Switzerland, four universities offer courses in French: the universities of Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. There is no need to speak a second language to integrate these universities.

On the other hand, students wishing to study in Switzerland are asked for a certificate of maturity. It is a document certifying the end of your second cycle of schooling, ie obtaining your Bac except for Bac L.

 Know that there are 3 certificates of maturity in Switzerland:

The gymnasiale Maturity (the baccalaureate), which allows to enter the university;
Professional Maturity, often obtained at the end of an initial professional training and which allows to enter a high specialized school;
Specialized Maturity, often obtained after training in a school of general culture to access a high specialized school.
This type of certificate is still found today in some other European countries such as Belgium or Italy.
Twice a year (June and August / September) the ICSU (Introductory Course for University Studies) sets up admission exams for students wishing to study in Switzerland. ICSU offers to register for courses to prepare for this exam. The cost is around 700 €. So do not hesitate to inquire quickly.

Formalities to study in Switzerland
If you want to stay less than 3 months, (for an internship or a language course for example) you do not need a visa, the valid ID card is sufficient. On the other hand, if you wish to go to Switzerland longer you must obtain your residence permit in Switzerland as a student (valid for one year and renewable each year). For this, you need to prove that you have:
Sufficient financial resources to stay in Switzerland without having a student job,
Health insurance also covering the costs caused by accidents,
A document certifying that you have been admitted to a recognized educational institution.


 The cost of studies and housing in Switzerland
Registration fees for universities in Switzerland vary widely, from CHF 1,000 per year (€ 932) for the University of Geneva up to CHF 8,000 per year (€ 7,467) for the University of Svizzera italiana in Italian Switzerland. Beware, some university fees seem low at first, but it is especially the cost of living in Switzerland that represents the majority of the student budget.
In terms of housing, it takes between 400 and 700 euros for a room in university residence, a much higher amount than in France. Private homes are extremely expensive in Switzerland, so we advise you to share the rent of an apartment with one or more students!
To facilitate your search for accommodation, you can go through different platforms such Uniplaces and Weroom, which offer a search engine by city in all Europe. Thanks to these sites, you can easily find a flat or a flat share, and maybe even find a guarantor.

The award of a scholarship
A French student may benefit from a mobility grant awarded by the French State or its region of origin. However, Switzerland also grants scholarships to foreign students, between 210 and 240 scholarships per year for students already holding a higher education diploma.

Go to Erasmus
Since 2014, the conditions for Switzerland's participation in the Erasmus program have been revised: the country is unfortunately no longer eligible as a "program" country, which means that French students can no longer go to Switzerland as part of a program. Erasmus and therefore receive an Erasmus mobility grant. However, Switzerland continues to welcome students from partner universities in Europe thanks to the "Swiss-European Mobility Program" which replaces Erasmus, the time Switzerland is negotiating for its reintegration into the program.