Education in Switzerland

When talking about Switzerland, most people tend to fancy the picturesque nature and luxury infrastructure in the country. To the point, as the part of Europe, the country managed to turn to the most prosperous place of the business solvency having no substantial mineral resources. This should be of high value to consider when presenting the country as the region. This is probably a good reason for most prosperous people who tend to have their children educated in here. However, anyone may consider Switzerland as the study destination irrespective of the welfare level.

Higher education in Switzerland

Advantages to study in Switzerland

When bringing up the key advantages of study in the country, the following might be of considerable and critical value:

• the quoteworthy education level effectively assured by the government. This is strongly associated with specific traditions concerning education level in the country.
• the education basis lies in the best synthesis of the most effective global education systems. In other words, the Swiss education system is the mixture of systems adopted in Germany, Great Britain, America and France. It is of note that such approach regarding education system ensures full employment of the university graduates elsewhere in the world. However, students are strongly required to show high academic records since the curriculum levels are far more intensive than anywhere in the world. The most intriguing is that students may choose the class hours on their own so late risers may also benefit from such provisions.
• study period may be easily matched with outdoor activities: national tourism is on high level, indeed. Students do not fail to see that.
• international students attain perfect practical skills of spoken language and hone knowledge due to four state languages adopted in Switzerland. Those who come to learn something new, may start with learning Italian, French, German and Rhaeto-Romanic languages. As a student in Switzerland, foreigners open up opportunities to comprehend the western way of thinking. This could be one of options to employ in further job career.
• any student feels safe in Switzerland due to almost zero rate of crime and full neutrality in respect of politic issues.
• climatic conditions are beneficial for health. The place offers a range of health resorts where students can get in touch with lots of people with most of them coming from high-ranking families.

Summarizing all the above, it is obvious that 90% graduates of tertiary education institutions in Switzerland tend to hold exceptionally superior positions in future.
Though English language is not officially adopted in the country, the Swiss have a good command of the language. It is learnt at schools along with other official languages. Applicants who long for profound knowledge of English may take some specific-purpose courses to choose out of a variety of offered. Language proficiency courses are classified for common and of special purpose. They are designed based on terms of demand in future. National courses also offer children curriculums with customized kid camps.

University enrollment procedure

Currently the number of international students at the Swiss universities rate from 18 to 33% though some University School enrollment requirements are quite stringent. So, the School of Medicine is sought-after by lots of applicants and thus, international students are enrolled after all the others though Pharmacy and some more areas set a fix number of seats for international students.

The package of documents that should be submitted includes the following:

• application form completed.
• curriculum vitae written and signed by the applicant.
• a letter of reference taken from the previous place of study.
• a copy of the Leaving Certificate. In case of a higher education diploma and plans to study for Master’s level in Switzerland, the applicant needs to verify that on-hand diploma complies with international requirements and that the qualification conforms to the level set to Master’s level programme. In case of discrepancy, the applicant might want to attend specific-purpose courses for a year to lose.
• language proficiency certificate (IELTS of at least 5.5 or TOEFL 500).
• Diploma Supplement with all disciplines and credits indicated.

It is in responsibility of each particular university to define eligible candidates and a number of seats for enrollment and thus, a complete package of documents is not to guarantee consequent admission. Moreover, the applicant’s academic performance is assessed but not considered. This is to avoid cases when high credits are achieved due to good relations between the student and the teacher and vice versa, low credits may be the result of negative attitude between them.

That’s notable that the academic year in Switzerland starts in October. So, applicants are better to prepare and submit their documents in January to consider the following:

• It takes two to three months to manage correspondence with the tertiary education institution.
• in case of rejection, there is still time to submit documents to another university to save a year.

One of admission criteria is the age limit: the applicant should be at least in his/her 18 years to be able to pass five admission exams. This is to be a burden for young people by law. As for admission exams, compulsory exams include French (or German) language, History and Math, while the other two subjects are set by each particular university as appropriate. This is important to bear in mind when keeping in touch with the university authorized people.

Education degrees in Switzerland

Leaving apart the education degrees provided by tertiary education institutions in Switzerland, one should keep in mind that the intensity of academic training in there is extremely high. As per the statistics, about 50% students are dismissed within first two years of study due to underachievement. However, this intensifies the demand in Swiss credentials in the global job market.

Bachelor’ degree

Bachelor diploma is awarded upon 4-year study completion, which makes 8 academic terms. The education system accentuates the need in highly paid job in future and thus, if the student chooses to quit studying at the university after 5-term period of study, the study completion certificate for this appropriate period is issued to allow chances for a good job there. The certificate is not the evidence on tertiary qualification and it gives no privileges if study is restarted, though. This is important for the applicant to clarify the issue on diploma upon completion of tertiary education institution. This is done via correspondence taken between the applicant and university authorized people. The point is that universities that adopt Bologna system of education provide a diploma upon four years of study whereas other universities do not do that since the period of study they set may assume another year during which the student is awarded the Licentiate diploma.

Master’s Degree

One of specific features in Master’s level programmes in Switzerland is that the student is eligible to choose to advance and to start with the different qualification. In the latter case, the applicant is obliged to complete specific courses to qualify for the programme. Master’s diploma is also obtainable at High Schools of Business with 1.5-year of study. Master’s Diploma issued by any Swiss university assures push in career advancement irrespective of the country of job.

Doctor’s Degree

This level programmes are usually long-term with the minimal period of study of three years. Within that term the student has to manage with writing a thesis and upholding to the university academic board. The Doctorate requires Master’s Diploma in the similar area of concentration.

International students are eligible to find an employment in Switzerland during out-of-study hours for at least 15 hours a week. Holidays may be allowed for full employment, though. Senior Bachelor programme students are entitled to hold the Assistant Professor vacancy. The limited hours for legal employment explain why international students seek for scholarships provided in the way as follow:

• ESKAS (Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students). Only four educational grants are allotted for each university. If the applicant is granted with such financial aid, this amount will make 1600 to 1800 Swiss francs per month for a year. The grant is valid only within one academic year, which makes 9 months.
• MAPOW (Management-Ausbildungsprojekt-Ost-West). This is an international scholarship programme for students majoring in Economics. The volume is 40 grants per year.

The scholarship candidates should have a perfect command of German language and be of at least in their 35 years to be allotted one of these grants.

Student Visa

In common with other European countries, a student visa to Switzerland is issued based on the relevant package of documents supplied. All documents should be translated into one of national languages, either into English language. Applicants are offered to pass a spoken test at the Embassy which is a must. It takes five to seven days to get a student visa as appropriate.

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Education in Switzerland - See also...

• Educational system in France
• Educational system in Italy
• Educational system in Germany
• Educational system in Austria