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Rankings: The 13 best universities in Switzerland for 2025/2026

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Rankings: The 13 best universities in Switzerland for 2025/2026

Switzerland has a lot to offer to international students: Swiss universities provide world-class education, and their degrees are recognised around the globe. With its high quality of research and teaching, Switzerland regularly ranks high in the Study.EU Country Ranking.

ETH Zurich is the uncontested top dog; the highly respected institute of technology belongs to the top 10 universities of the world. And other Swiss institutions are also well-recognised in academia and business, for instance the University of Zurich, the University of Geneva, or the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Although only a small country, with a population of around 8 million, Switzerland’s impressive presence in international university rankings underlines its reputation as a prime destination for studying abroad. If you are seeking a Bachelors or Masters programme of high academic regard and can afford the relatively high cost of living, Switzerland should be among the top of your list when choosing a country to study abroad.

Featured universities:
International Institute in Geneva
International Institute in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland
13 study programmes
Geneva Business School
Geneva Business School
Geneva, Switzerland
14 study programmes

Top ranked universities in Switzerland

University QS Ranking 2025 THE Ranking 2025 ARWU Ranking 2024
ETH Zurich 7 11 21
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) 26 32 55
University of Zurich 109 – 67
University of Basel 131 126 95
University of Geneva 155 171 58
University of Bern 161 104 101
University of Lausanne 224 134 101
USI Università della Svizzera italiana 405 301 601
University of Fribourg 539 401 501
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences 781 1001 –
University of St. Gallen – 351 –
University of Neuchâtel – 501 –
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland – 1201 –

Explained: How do the university rankings work?

The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).

The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.

Study in Switzerland Switzerland - Flag

Switzerland is a small country located at the heart of Europe, with a multilingual population of just over 8 million. While the cost of living is very high, the tuition fees are comparably low, and with some of the world’s best universies, the country attracts a growing number of foreign students every year.

Read more about studying in Switzerland

Find the right study programme for yourself:

Bachelors degrees in Switzerland
Masters degrees in Switzerland
PhD programmes in Switzerland

Relevant links

  • Studying abroad in Switzerland: Basic information for international students
  • Study programmes in Switzerland
  • Visit the website of the QS World University Rankings
  • Visit the website of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
  • Visit the website of the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities

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