Switzerland Has One of the Best University Systems in the World

(CONNECT) With 234 subjects included in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, Switzerland is the seventh strongest country on the European continent. Of these 234 subjects, 13 percent improved their ranking compared to the previous year, while 44 percent worsened. 34 percent remain stable in their position and 22 are new additions.

As Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the London-based publisher of this ranking, explains in a press release, Switzerland has the fourth-highest number of subjects in the world's top 10 (29) and the third-most entries in first place, despite having only a fraction of the subject entries of its closest competitors in the UK and the US. According to QS, this refers "to its exceptional university system and the concentration of academic excellence".

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) is home to the world's best degree programs in geophysics, geology and earth and marine sciences. With the fourth highest number of entries, ETH is one of the world's most highly rated universities. The subject of hospitality is dominated by Swiss institutions in all three of the world's best subjects and eight entries in the top 10, including EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne, which QS describes as the global market leader.

In dentistry, the universities of Zurich and Bern are among the ten best in the world. The University of Zurich recorded the greatest improvement in the study subjects with chemistry, climbing from 151-200th place to 122nd place. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) ranks 10th in Engineering & Technology and 10th in Natural Sciences. It climbed from 11th to 10th place in civil engineering, while the University of St.Gallen achieved 18th place in the marketing category.

In addition, Swiss university graduates enjoy an excellent reputation among international employers. Their appreciation has risen by a further 29 percent compared to the previous year.

Two Swiss universities lead their subject tables for the H-index, which measures research quality. The University of Bern ranks first in this indicator for dentistry (9th overall) and the Vetsuisse Faculties of Bern and Zurich rank first for veterinary sciences (7th overall).

The ranking provides an independent comparative analysis of the performance of more than 21,000 academic programs at more than 1,700 universities in 100 countries and territories, across 55 subjects and five faculty areas: humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences, natural sciences and social sciences. ce/mm