University of Basel Admission 2027: Deadlines, Fees, Requirements

Admission at a glance

The University of Basel, founded in 1460, is Switzerland's oldest university and charges every student, Swiss or international, the same flat tuition of CHF 850 a semester, one of relatively few Swiss universities researched for this file that does not add a separate international surcharge. Admission to a bachelor's programme requires a secondary school leaving certificate, or an equivalent higher education entry qualification, recognised by the University of Basel; where a non-Swiss certificate grants access to higher education in its home system but not automatically to every bachelor's programme, the applicant must instead show they have been admitted to an equivalent degree programme at a state-recognised university in that country. Bachelor's teaching is predominantly in German.

Master's admission requires a bachelor's degree of at least 180 ECTS credits from a university Basel recognises, plus, for English-taught programmes, proof of English proficiency; individual faculties publish their own minimum, for example the Faculty of Business and Economics' Master in Finance, which asks for TOEFL iBT 90 (paper-based 575) or IELTS 6.5, unless the applicant's prior degree was taught entirely in English. Applications for the two annual intakes run on a fixed calendar: for the autumn semester, applications open around 15 December and close 15 February; for the spring semester, they open around 15 October and close 30 November. The non-refundable application and administration fee is CHF 100, with a further CHF 150 charged if a late application is exceptionally granted. All levels, bachelor's, master's and doctoral, apply through the same online system.

Requirements

Bachelor

• A secondary school leaving certificate, or equivalent higher-education entry qualification, that the University of Basel recognises; where it grants only partial access in its home system, proof of admission to an equivalent degree programme at a state-recognised university there instead.
• German language proficiency sufficient for study, since bachelor's teaching is predominantly in German.
• Application within the fixed calendar: around 15 December to 15 February for the autumn semester, or 15 October to 30 November for the spring semester.

Master

• A bachelor's degree of at least 180 ECTS credits from a university the University of Basel recognises.
• For English-taught programmes, proof of English proficiency; the Faculty of Business and Economics' own table sets TOEFL iBT 90 (paper-based 575) or IELTS 6.5, waived for a prior degree taught entirely in English. Other faculties publish their own figure.
• Application within the same fixed calendar as bachelor's admission.

Full requirements and documents