The Swiss Accreditation Council maintains a list of accredited higher education institutions. A list of accredited and recognised higher education institutions can also be found on the website of swissuniversities.

Accreditation is not directly related to the acceptance of graduates in the world of work. However, accreditation plays a greater role in admission to other national and international higher education institutions.

No, this conclusion cannot be drawn in this way.

As part of Switzerland’s obligations under the Lisbon Convention, swissuniverisities maintains a list of higher education institutions accredited under the Higher Education Act (HEdA). Listed are higher education institutions and their units that were established by federal or cantonal law before the HEdA came into force, that were accredited under previous law or that were accredited under the HEdA (HEdA Accreditation Ordinance Article 4 paragraph 2).

In principle, yes, but the laws of the siting cantons must be observed, as the awarding of titles is the responsibility of the cantons. The right of a higher education institution to award titles is also not tied to accreditation.

The titles issued by an accredited higher education institution in Switzerland (Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or Doctorate) are protected under federal, cantonal and intercantonal legal bases. They comply with the principles of the Bologna declaration and are therefore also comparable with those of national, European and international higher education institutions.

The Swiss Accreditation Council is the competent authority for admission to the procedure. You will find the form for the application for institutional accreditation on the website of the Accreditation Council as well as a template for a documentation of the evidence of how your higher education institution fulfils the admission criteria (according to Article 4 paragraph 1 of the  HEdA Accreditation Ordinance). For information, please contact the Council’s office.

The application for accreditation must be received by the Council’s office two months before the meeting of the Accreditation Council.

The agency that is to carry out the procedure is the competent body for the admission to the procedure. According to Article 5 paragraph 1 of the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance, an already completed institutional accreditation of the higher education institution is a prerequisite for the admission to the procedure. Programme accreditations ­are voluntary. For information, please contact the Council’s office or the agency with which you wish to carry out the procedure.

In principle, yes, but the laws of the siting cantons must be observed, as the awarding of titles is the responsibility of the cantons. The right of a higher education institution to award titles is also not tied to accreditation.

In Switzerland, a higher education institution must be accredited in accordance with the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 29) if it wishes to use a protected name such as «university», «university of applied sciences» or «university of teacher education» in a national language or in another language. This also applies to versions derived from it, such as «tier-one colleges» or «UAS colleges». On the other hand, terms such as «higher education institute», «business school» or similar are not protected by federal law. On the other hand, it may be that cantonal law is more restrictive than federal law. In this case, the canton where the respective university is located can provide you with further information.

At federal level, the designations university», «university of applied sciences» or «university of teacher education» are protected by the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 29), which entered into force on 1 January 2015, and may only be used by accredited higher education institutions. On the other hand, it may be that cantonal law is more restrictive than federal law. In this case, the canton where your higher education institution is located can provide you with further information.

Private higher education institutions that do not wish to make use of the right to use reserved designations under Article 29 of the Higher Education Act (HEdA) do not have to be accredited. However, according to Article 2 HEdA, all public higher education institutions – i.e., federal and cantonal higher education institutions – must be accredited.

In Switzerland, the accreditation of study programmes is not mandatory. Within the framework of institutional accreditation, higher education institutions prove that their quality assurance system covers all areas, and thus also the study programmes. However, they are thereby not formally accredited as programmes.

According to the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 4 paragraph 1 letters f and i), the higher education institution must be a legal entity in Switzerland and have infrastructure in Switzerland.

No, the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance does not permit the accreditation of subunits. A higher education institution seeking institutional accreditation must be assigned to one of the types defined in the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 4 paragraph 1 letter b) (university, university of applied sciences or university of teacher education respectively institute). Other formats cannot be accredited.

No, the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 5 Paragraph 1) requires the unity of research and teaching for higher education institutions.

No, the same standards apply to all higher education institutions. The consideration of the specific profile is, however, taken into account within the standards, which is ensured by a group of experts suitably composed for the respective procedure.

The accreditation is valid for a period of 7 years. Since a procedure duration of up to two years must be expected, higher education institutions are recommended to start the process of the renewal of accreditation 5 years after the last accreditation.

According to the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 9 Paragraph 7), the higher education institution chooses one official language (German, French or Italian) as the language of the procedure. It may also submit the documents used for the procedure in English. But even in this case, the agency’s application must be written in an official language; the decision of the Accreditation Council is only written in one official language.

Programme accreditations under the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 28 paragraph 3) are voluntary. They are only possible for those institutions that are already institutionally accredited (HEdA Article 28 Paragraph 2 Letter c).

First of all, it should be emphasised that at the level of Federal Legislation, not all private higher education institutions are obliged to be accredited under the Higher Education Act (HEdA), but only those that wish to use a designation protected by the HEdA (Article 29) such as «university», «university of applied sciences» or «university of teacher education». The Cantons, which also have competences in this area, may, however, enact stricter legislation than that existing at federal level.

The HEdA Accreditation Ordinance does not distinguish between private and public higher education institutions. Article 4 paragraph 1 of the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance defines the requirements for admission to the accreditation procedure. Once a higher education institution has been admitted to the accreditation procedure, the standards of the HEdA apply to the accreditation of the higher education institution (HEdA Accreditation Ordinance Article 22 Paragraph 1). The accreditation guidelines enact a uniform set of standards that apply equally to public and private higher education institutions.

According to the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 15 Paragraph 1), the Swiss Accreditation Council is the decision-making body for accreditation. It bases its decision on the application of the agency, the statement of the higher education institution, the report of the group of experts and the self-assessment report of the higher education institution.

According to the Fees Ordinance of the Swiss Accreditation Council (Article 3), generally cost-covering fees are charged.

In the case of institutional accreditation, the public higher education institutions are only charged the direct costs, the private higher education institutions the direct and indirect costs. The direct costs of institutional accreditation amount to a flat rate of CHF 32,000 (excluding VAT), the indirect costs to CHF 27,000 (excluding VAT). In the case of programme accreditation, all higher education institutions are charged the direct and indirect costs. The direct costs of programme accreditation amount to a flat rate of CHF 13,000 (excluding VAT), the indirect costs to CHF 20,000 (excluding VAT).

The fees are adjusted according to the size of the group of experts and the duration of the on-site visit. These flat rates do not include the costs for any conditional inspections; they are charged on the basis of the given workload.

The Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 3 paragraphs 1 and 3) stipulates that the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) and other Swiss or foreign accreditation agencies recognised by the Swiss Accreditation Council may carry out accreditation. The admission requirements and the procedure used for this purpose follow the Accreditation Council’s own guidelines.

When the Accreditation Council issues an accreditation, it may attach conditions to it. In its decision, it specifies the deadline and means of the verification of fulfilment of conditions. The higher education institution must submit its report on the fulfilment of conditions to the Accreditation Council by e-mail or post. After the accreditation agency has reviewed the fulfilment of requirements and documented it in a report, the higher education institution comments on it. The Accreditation Council then decides on the fulfilment of the conditions.

In Switzerland, a higher education institution must be accredited in accordance with the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 29) if it wishes to use a protected name such as «university», «university of applied sciences» or «university of teacher education» in a national language or in another language. This also applies to versions derived from it, such as «tier-one colleges» or «UAS colleges». On the other hand, terms such as «higher education institute», «business school» or similar are not protected by federal law. On the other hand, it may be that cantonal law is more restrictive than federal law. In this case, the canton where the respective university is located can provide you with further information.

Private higher education institutions that do not wish to make use of the right to use reserved designations under Article 29 of the Higher Education Act (HEdA) do not have to be accredited. However, according to Article 2 HEdA, all public higher education institutions – i.e., federal and cantonal higher education institutions – must be accredited.

In Switzerland, the accreditation of study programmes is not mandatory. Within the framework of institutional accreditation, higher education institutions prove that their quality assurance system covers all areas, and thus also the study programmes. However, they are thereby not formally accredited as programmes.

According to the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 4 paragraph 1 letters f and i), the higher education institution must be a legal entity in Switzerland and have infrastructure in Switzerland.

No, the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance does not permit the accreditation of subunits. A higher education institution seeking institutional accreditation must be assigned to one of the types defined in the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 4 paragraph 1 letter b) (university, university of applied sciences or university of teacher education respectively institute). Other formats cannot be accredited.

No, the Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 5 Paragraph 1) requires the unity of research and teaching for higher education institutions.

No, the same standards apply to all higher education institutions. The consideration of the specific profile is, however, taken into account within the standards, which is ensured by a group of experts suitably composed for the respective procedure.

The accreditation is valid for a period of 7 years. Since a procedure duration of up to two years must be expected, higher education institutions are recommended to start the process of the renewal of accreditation 5 years after the last accreditation.

According to the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance (Article 9 Paragraph 7), the higher education institution chooses one official language (German, French or Italian) as the language of the procedure. It may also submit the documents used for the procedure in English. But even in this case, the agency’s application must be written in an official language; the decision of the Accreditation Council is only written in one official language.

First of all, it should be emphasised that at the level of Federal Legislation, not all private higher education institutions are obliged to be accredited under the Higher Education Act (HEdA), but only those that wish to use a designation protected by the HEdA (Article 29) such as «university», «university of applied sciences» or «university of teacher education». The Cantons, which also have competences in this area, may, however, enact stricter legislation than that existing at federal level.

The HEdA Accreditation Ordinance does not distinguish between private and public higher education institutions. Article 4 paragraph 1 of the HEdA Accreditation Ordinance defines the requirements for admission to the accreditation procedure. Once a higher education institution has been admitted to the accreditation procedure, the standards of the HEdA apply to the accreditation of the higher education institution (HEdA Accreditation Ordinance Article 22 Paragraph 1). The accreditation guidelines enact a uniform set of standards that apply equally to public and private higher education institutions.

According to the Fees Ordinance of the Swiss Accreditation Council (Article 3), generally cost-covering fees are charged.

In the case of institutional accreditation, the public higher education institutions are only charged the direct costs, the private higher education institutions the direct and indirect costs. The direct costs of institutional accreditation amount to a flat rate of CHF 32,000 (excluding VAT), the indirect costs to CHF 27,000 (excluding VAT). In the case of programme accreditation, all higher education institutions are charged the direct and indirect costs. The direct costs of programme accreditation amount to a flat rate of CHF 13,000 (excluding VAT), the indirect costs to CHF 20,000 (excluding VAT).

The fees are adjusted according to the size of the group of experts and the duration of the on-site visit. These flat rates do not include the costs for any conditional inspections; they are charged on the basis of the given workload.

The Higher Education Act (HEdA) (Article 3 paragraphs 1 and 3) stipulates that the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) and other Swiss or foreign accreditation agencies recognised by the Swiss Accreditation Council may carry out accreditation. The admission requirements and the procedure used for this purpose follow the Accreditation Council’s own guidelines.

The accreditation agencies must send their application for accreditation at least two months before the corresponding meeting of the Accreditation Council. The exact dates will be communicated in advance by the office of the Accreditation Council.