Scholarships for Masters Students in Switzerland

Even though Masters fees in Switzerland are relatively low, it is always good, as an international student, to be sure of the scholarships and funding options available to help you cover the cost of your study.

This guide lists, in detail, the fee structure for a Masters course in Switzerland and the funding options that are available to you as an international student.

Costs of studying a Masters varies between institutions, programmes, and subject areas. Fees can range between €1,437 and €10,266 per year. You will also have to pay an application fee of around €95.

You should also account for the smaller additional fees like registration fee, examination fee and fee for societies and sports when calculating the cost of your Masters.

Some universities charge up to €4,106 extra per year for students who extend their length of study.

In some cases, this is the same rate paid by domestic students, but a number of institutions charge slightly higher fees to international students, including those within the EU.

Once you know how much Masters study in Switzerland is going to cost, you can move on to trying to secure funding .

Search for a Masters in Switzerland

You can browse and compare a list of available Masters degrees in Switzerland on the FindAMasters website.

A range of scholarships and other support packages are available to international students studying a Masters degree in Switzerland. These range from support provided by government programmes to funding offered by institutions themselves.

Switzerland offers the Government Excellence scholarships to international students doing a Masters or a PhD in Switzerland. It is funded through the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS).

For a Masters, there is the Arts Scholarship which is available to highly qualified artists studying a Masters at a Swiss university of the arts or conservatory.

These are available to students from countries that Switzerland has a reciprocal funding agreement with. You can find out if your country is eligible by checking the FCS website. There isn’t a restriction on the subject you study for your Masters, but it must be at one of Switzerland’s universities of the arts or a Swiss conservatory.

If you successfully apply for an FCS Arts Scholarship, you’ll receive the following benefits:

• Monthly payment of approximately €2,033
• Living costs for one person

Applications usually open in August for Masters programmes beginning the next academic year, with deadlines between September and December depending on the country you’re applying from. You’ll normally apply through your local Swiss embassy.

The Swiss Study Foundation is a support organisation for high-achieving university students in Switzerland. Membership is open to international students, but you’ll need to speak at least two of Switzerland’s national languages (French, German and Italian).

The Foundation offers a variety of scholarship programmes to its members (information is only available in French and German).

International students can apply for a grant from the Hirschmann Foundation to help fund a Masters at a Swiss university of applied sciences.

Awarded on a one-off basis, Hirschmann grants are usually worth €5,295. You’ll be expected to be a high achiever at Bachelors level and, if successful, will need to take part in a ‘policy kitchen’ with the rest of your scholarship cohort.

You can make an application twice a year: April and October. You’ll need to complete an online application form and provide the following documents:

• A cover letter
• A copy of your Bachelors degree certificate and academic transcript
• Two academic references
• A letter of acceptance for a Masters programme at a Swiss University of Applied Sciences

Between 40 and 50 grants are usually awarded by the Hirschmann Foundation each year. Grant holders will be able to attend regular networking events through the Foundation.

Another good source of funding for a Masters in Switzerland is the universities themselves. Many institutions offer scholarship packages to international students, comprising of a tuition fee waiver and / or a monthly stipend to help with living costs.

You can browse the scholarships offered by some of the top Swiss universities in the list below:

• Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
• ETH Zurich
• Graduate Institute Geneva
• University of Bern
• University of Geneva
• University of Lausanne
• University of St Gallen

It is also useful to note that The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) runs a range of MBA scholarship programmes.

More information on Masters in Switzerland

You can also have a look at our guides to the application process for a Masters in Switzerland and student visas for international students in Switzerland to keep yourself informed and plan ahead.

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