Study in Switzerland

Why Study in Switzerland?

Apart from natural resources, education and knowledge have become very important resources in Switzerland. Therefore, Switzerland claims to have one of the world’s best education systems. Study in Switzerland for Indian students is most in the segment of the Swiss Hospitality Schools. Located in various towns and cities across Switzerland, these schools are renowned worldwide for their high standards and are almost a pre-requisite for hospitality students looking for a first-class education. Switzerland has a long established and outstanding reputation for excellence in Hospitality Education. Switzerland is also home to some of the world’s leading laboratories. In such a country and environment everybody can feel safe. Many international companies have selected Switzerland for their headquarters because of the country’s reputation for stability, safety and multicultural understanding. And thus, study in Switzerland allows students to catapult their skills.

Top Courses

Top courses to study in Switzerland:

At Undergraduate Level:

• Tourism

• Hospitality

• Event Management

• Culinary Arts

• Hotel Management

• Business Administration

• Tourism Marketing Management

• Banking

• Communication Design

• Human Resources

• Accounting

• Sporting Management

• Media Science

• Systems Engineering

• Civil Engineering and Multimedia Production

Top courses for Masters in Switzerland for Ethiopian students include:

• Hospitality Management

• Tourism

• Event Management

• Culinary Arts

• Hotel Management

• Business Administration

• Entrepreneurship Management

• Information Science

• Engineering

Career Opportunities

When you have retained your residence permit and proven you have the necessary financial resources to study in Switzerland, you can work alongside your studies. In fact, the student residence permit allows for profit-earning activity, as long your university provides a statement confirming that your employment will not prolong the length of your studies.

In actual practice, many local and international students in Switzerland- work alongside their studies to earn pocket money and gain professional experience. For foreign students, the number of weekly work hours is limited to 15, but this is fairly flexible depending on the canton (in Geneva, for example, you can work up to 30 hours per week). Nevertheless, most people will advise you not to take on extra work, since the university workload is already quite heavy, depending on the faculty.

It is easier to find employment in the large urban centres like Geneva and Zurich. Each university has a job placement office that provides information on student employment. Wages vary between SFR 20 and SFR 35 according to the job and your skills.

Education Cost

Study in Switzerland for Indian students can be understood with the below given comprehensive table:

Tuition Fees:

Programmes	Swiss Currency
Under Graduates	15,000 – 20,000 CHF
Post Graduates (MASTERS)	22,000 – 25,000 CHF
MBA (Hospitality)	29,300 – 32,200 CHF

Cost of Living in Switzerland:

International students in Switzerland need to make provisions worth 18,000 – 28,000 CHF per Year towards living expenses.

Application Procedure

Below given is the comprehensive application procedure to study abroad in Switzerland.

At Undergraduate Level:

• Successful completion of Senior Secondary Certificate (10+2) with an aggregate of at least 65% in the best 4 subjects (excluding any local languages).

• IELTS or TOEFL

Masters in Switzerland for Ethiopian students requires the following:

• A good Bachelor degree from a relevant background.

• 1st class throughout. 2 – 3 year’s work experience will be preferable.

• IELTS or TOEFL.

Application Procedure:

At Undergraduate Level:

• All the applicants must submit certified true copies of relevant documents along with the application form.

• If your application is successful, university will send the provisional acceptance within a week.

• The deposit of 3000 CHF must be paid within 4 weeks.

• The confirmation will be sent as soon as the university has received the deposit payment. This document is needed to apply for Visa.

• In many countries outside Europe, it is necessary for the student to make an application for an entry visa to Switzerland. This procedure may take up to 8 weeks.

Documents Required to study in Switzerland:

• Photographs

• Passport photocopy

• Statement of purpose

• Resume

• Degree/ provisional certificate

• Copies of IELTS / TOEFL

• Two letters of Recommendation

• Letter from college

• Work experience Certificate

Education System

In Switzerland, most children go to public schools. Private schools are usually expensive and people tend to think that students of private schools probably didn’t make it at the public school. Public schools include Kindergarten, Volksschule (elementary school), Gymnasium (secondary school) and Universitäten (universities).

School: In Switzerland, every child must attend at least the elementary school. Our country provides various schools at different levels. Because the cantons are responsible for the educational system, the names, the subjects, the starting age of the students and the duration vary significantly between the cantons.

Kindergarten: Children may attend Kindergarten for one year or two years.

Volksschule (Elementary school): The Volksschule (elementary school) is mandatory for all Swiss children. They must either attend the public school or must go to a private school. Elementary school starts at the age of seven and lasts at least eight, but usually nine years.

Berufslehre (Apprenticeship): In Switzerland, most kids start a Berufslehre (apprenticeship) after elementary school. Depending on the profession, an apprenticeship takes two to four years. Apprenticeships include all kinds of professions, from handicraft (mechanician, carpenter, baker, hairdresser etc.) to office worker (secretary, book-keeper, IT specialist etc.).

Gymnasium (Secondary school): There are various types of Gymnasia (secondary schools) with different emphasis and major subjects.

There are eleven Universitäten (universities) to study in Switzerland, nine of them are run by a canton, two are run by the confederation. In general, the universities run by the cantons provide non-technical subjects, whereas the universities run by the confederation provide technical subjects. The later are therefore called “Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology”.

The education is now broken up into two parts similar to the education in the USA:

• a Bachelor study (three years)

• a Master’s study (one and a half or two years)

After a successful completion of Masters in Switzerland for Ethiopian students, one can start working on a thesis in order to get a doctor title. This takes usually three to four years.

Fachhochschulen (Technical college): After an apprenticeship, a young person can still start an academic career. Depending on the profession, she or he may attend a Fachhochschule (Technical College). A technical college provides a similar education as the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology but not to the same extend. While an engineer ETH (graduate of one of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology) has a stronger theoretical background, an engineer FH (graduate of one of the technical colleges) usually has more practical experience because she or he had finished an apprenticeship which lasted four years. The study lasts three and a half years

Visa

If you want to study in Switzerland you need to obtain a Student Visa which is known as B permit which you will need to apply for, from the nearest Swiss Embassy or Consulate

Where to apply and Contact us : Submission of Application is in Consulate

Process:

a. How many days prior can a student apply for visa and processing: This varies between Embassies. In some countries, a student will need to appear for a personal interview as a part of the visa application process. In order to study abroad in Switzerland, students should apply 90 days prior for the Visa.

b. Documents Check-list:

1. Copies of completed application form.

2. Passport or travel document valid for at least 3 months after intended visit.

3. All Academic proof

4. Return/onward ticket and visa for next country of destination if required

5. Proof of sufficient funds in the form of a recent bank statement.

6. Offer letter and receipt of payments

c. Visa Application Fees: Student visa fee is approx. 2100 etb (Subject to change)

d. Processing Time: You should allow at least 8 weeks of processing time. The visa application and issuing process takes up to 2 months

English Ability Requirements IELTS/TOEFL is mandatory for international students in Switzerland.

For more information you can meet the Visa counsellor at Lysa