Cost of Studying in Switzerland (2027) for International Students

Tuition at Swiss public universities is billed per semester, not per year, and the figure an international student pays now depends heavily on which university they choose. The University of Geneva charges CHF 500 a semester and the University of Lausanne around CHF 580, the same for every student regardless of nationality. Most other cantonal universities charge a defined surcharge for students who were not resident in Switzerland or Liechtenstein when they obtained their entry qualification: the University of Fribourg's total comes to about CHF 985 a semester for such students against CHF 835 for everyone else, the University of Neuchatel's foreign-student total is about CHF 775 to 790, and the University of Lucerne's is CHF 1,115 against CHF 815. The University of Zurich's foreign-student surcharge is bigger at bachelor's level (CHF 1,279 a semester total) than at master's or doctoral level (CHF 879). The University of Basel charges a flat CHF 850 a semester to everyone. Since the 2025 and 2026 autumn semesters, ETH Zurich, EPFL and the University of Bern have introduced or raised a much higher foreign-student rate, close to three times the domestic fee: CHF 2,190 a semester at the two federal institutes and CHF 2,550 at Bern. The University of St Gallen (about CHF 3,129 a semester) and Universita della Svizzera italiana (CHF 4,000 a semester) charge international students the most among the universities checked for this file. On top of tuition, expect a non-refundable application fee of CHF 100 to CHF 250 per programme applied for.

Beyond tuition, cantonal migration offices commonly ask an incoming student to show access to about CHF 21,000 a year, close to CHF 1,750 a month, to qualify for a residence permit; the Canton of Zurich states this figure on the international-student pages of both ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, and other cantons, Geneva among them, ask for a broadly similar amount. Universities themselves generally point new students toward a higher realistic monthly budget once rent is included: the University of Zurich tells prospective students to plan on a minimum of CHF 2,200 a month, and the University of Geneva's own guidance puts average student life in Geneva at around CHF 2,000 a month. Costs run highest in Zurich and Geneva and lowest in smaller university towns such as Fribourg and Neuchatel.