List of Swiss universities by enrollment

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This is a list of Swiss universities and other higher education institutions according to the size of their student population recognized by the Federal Higher Education Act, HEdA.^[1]

Universities and higher education institutions in Switzerland by size

The following list ranks Swiss higher education institutions by their student population. Higher education in Switzerland is divided into three main sectors: traditional universities (Universitäre Hochschulen), universities of applied sciences and arts (Fachhochschulen), and universities of teacher education (Pädagogische Hochschulen).

Methodology and Scope

Student numbers refer to the most recent official data available for each institution (2024-2025) and include students enrolled in degree programmes (Bachelor, Master, and PhD), excluding continuing education (CAS, DAS, MAS), in line with Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) methodology. For large networks such as HES-SO and SUPSI, the data reflects consolidated degree-seeking students. Data may refer to different academic years depending on institutional reporting practices.

Rank	Institution	Type	Total students	Year	Remarks
1	University of Zurich	University	28,664^[2]	2025	Official institutional data
2	ETH Zurich	University	26,198^[3]	2025	Official institutional data
3	HES-SO	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	21,195^[4]	2025	Official institutional data
4	University of Bern	University	19,741^[5]	2025	Official institutional data
5	University of Geneva	University	18,241^[6]	2025	Official institutional data
6	University of Lausanne	University	17,197^[7]	2025	Official institutional data
7	Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	14,619^[8]	2025	Official institutional data
8	University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	14,527^[9]	2025	Official institutional data
9	EPFL	University	14,072^[10]	2025	Official institutional data
10	University of Basel	University	13,325^[11]	2024	Official institutional data
11	University of Fribourg	University	9,872^[12]	2024	Official institutional data
12	University of St. Gallen	University	9,987^[13]	2024/25	Official institutional data
13	Lucerne University of Applied Sciences	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	8,451^[14]	2024	Degree students only
14	Bern University of Applied Sciences	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	7,891^[15]	2024	Degree students only
15	SUPSI	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	6,121^[16]	2024/25	Excluding FFHS and DFA
16	University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (OST)	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	5,150^[17]	2024	Official institutional data
17	Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)	University	4,749^[18]	2025	Official institutional data
18	Zurich University of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	4,611^[19]	2024	Degree students only
19	University of Neuchâtel	University	4,442^[20]	2024	Official institutional data
20	École hôtelière de Lausanne	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	4,031^[21]	2024	Official institutional data
21	University of Teacher Education, State of Vaud	University of Teacher Education	3,854^[22]	2024	Degree students only
22	Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	3,522^[23]	2024	Official institutional data
23	University of Lucerne	University	3,446^[24]	2024/25	Official institutional data
24	HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	3,391^[25]	2024	Official institutional data
25	Pädagogische Hochschule Bern	University of Teacher Education	3,149^[26]	2024	Degree students only
26	Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	2,982^[27]	2024	Official institutional data
27	UniDistance Suisse	University institution	2,448^[28]	2024/25	Official institutional data
28	University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	2,380^[29]	2024	Official institutional data
29	University of Teacher Education Lucerne	University of Teacher Education	2,156^[30]	2024	Official institutional data
30	Zurich University of the Arts	University of Applied Sciences and Arts	2,125^[31]	2024	Official institutional data
31	Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education	University of Teacher Education	1,914^[32]	2024	Official institutional data
32	St. Gallen University of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	1,452^[33]	2024	Official institutional data
33	Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies	University institution	1,141^[34]	2024	Postgraduate degree students
34	University of Teacher Education BEJUNE	University of Teacher Education	912^[35]	2024	Official institutional data
35	Thurgau University of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	842^[36]	2024	Official institutional data
36	University of Fribourg Institute of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	718^[37]	2024	Degree students only
37	University of Teacher Education Valais	University of Teacher Education	641^[38]	2024	Official institutional data
38	University of Geneva Institute of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	584^[39]	2024	Degree students only
39	University of Teacher Education Fribourg	University of Teacher Education	562^[40]	2024	Official institutional data
40	Department of Education and Learning SUPSI	University of Teacher Education	498^[41]	2024/25	Degree students only
41	University of Teacher Education of Grisons	University of Teacher Education	422^[42]	2024	Official institutional data
42	Schwyz University of Teacher Education	University of Teacher Education	414^[43]	2024	Official institutional data
43	Franklin University Switzerland	University institution	405^[44]	2025	Degree students only
44	University of Teacher Education Zug	University of Teacher Education	392^[45]	2024	Official institutional data
45	Teacher Training University Schaffhausen	University of Teacher Education	238^[46]	2024	Official institutional data
46	Pädagogisches Hochschulinstitut NMS Bern	University of Teacher Education	218^[47]	2024	Official institutional data
47	Theological Faculty of Lugano	University institution	182^[48]	2024/25	Official institutional data
48	Theological Faculty of Chur	University institution	62^[49]	2024	Official institutional data

Notes and references

External links

Official portal of Swiss universities
All Swiss university programmes
KFH Rector' Conference of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences (KFH)
The State Secretariat for Education and Research

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Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of Swiss universities by enrollment. Read more

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[2] "Figures". https://www.uzh.ch/en/explore/portrait/figures.html.

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[14] "Facts and Figures". https://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-university-of-applied-sciences-and-arts/about-us/portrait/facts-and-figures/.

[15] "BFH in figures". https://www.bfh.ch/en/about-bfh/facts-and-figures/facts-figures/.

[16] "SUPSI in cifre". https://www.supsi.ch/home/supsi/fatti-cifre.html.

[17] "OST Facts & Figures". https://www.ost.ch/en/the-university/about-us/facts-figures.

[18] "Studenti". https://www.usi.ch/it/universita/chi-siamo/dati-e-cifre/studenti.

[19] "Facts and Figures". https://phzh.ch/en/About-us/Facts-and-Figures/.

[20] "L'UniNE en quelques chiffres". https://www.unine.ch/unine/home/luniversite/portrait/en-chiffres.html.

[21] "EHL by the numbers". https://www.ehl.edu/en/about/ehl-by-the-numbers.

[22] "La HEP Vaud en chiffres". https://www.hepl.ch/accueil/mission-et-organisation/la-hep-vaud-en-chiffres.html.

[23] "Facts and Figures". https://www.kalaidos-fh.ch/de-CH/Ueber-die-Kalaidos-FH/Facts-and-Figures.

[24] "Zahlen und Fakten". https://www.unilu.ch/universitaet/portraet/zahlen-und-fakten/.

[25] "HWZ Report". https://fh-hwz.ch/ueber-uns/die-hwz-geschichte/hwz-report/.

[26] "Zahlen und Fakten". https://www.phbern.ch/ueber-die-phbern/hochschule/zahlen-und-fakten.

[27] "Die FFHS im Überblick". https://www.ffhs.ch/de/ueber-uns/portraet.

[28] "Portrait of UniDistance Suisse". https://unidistance.ch/en/about/portrait.

[29] "Facts and figures". https://www.fhgr.ch/en/university/about-us/facts-figures/.

[30] "Zahlen und Fakten". https://www.phlu.ch/ueber-uns/hochschule/zahlen-und-fakten.html.

[31] "ZHdK in figures". https://www.zhdk.ch/en/about/facts-and-figures-572.

[32] "HEFP Key figures". https://www.hefp.swiss/about-us/facts-and-figures.

[33] "Fakten und Zahlen". https://www.phsg.ch/de/ueber-uns/fakten-und-zahlen.

[34] "IHEID Key Figures". https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/discover-institute/who-we-are.

[35] "La HEP-BEJUNE en chiffres". https://www.hep-bejune.ch/la-hep-bejune/en-chiffres.

[36] "Zahlen und Fakten". https://www.phtg.ch/ueber-uns/organisation/zahlen-und-fakten.

[37] "Statistical appendix 2024". https://www.unifr.ch/uni/en/assets/public/files/stat/2024/UNIFR_RA_2024_stat.pdf.

[38] "Rapport de gestion". https://www.hepvs.ch/institution/rapports-de-gestion.

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v t e Universities in Switzerland
according Federal Higher Education Act, HEdA
Universities	University of Basel University of Bern University of Fribourg University of Geneva University of Neuchâtel University of Lausanne University of Lucerne Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) University of St. Gallen (HSG) University of Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ)
Public Universities of Applied Sciences	Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (FHO) University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana (SUPSI) Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZFH) Zurich University of Applied Sciences/ZHAW (ZHAW) Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration (HWZ) Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH)
Private universities of applied sciences	Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences
Swiss University Conference

v t e List of universities in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Artsakh Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria
Dependencies and other entities	Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard

List of Swiss universities by enrollment

Topic: Organization

Contents

Universities and higher education institutions in Switzerland by size

Methodology and Scope

Notes and references

See also

External links