Student mobility within Switzerland

Students are usually enrolled at a single higher education institution, where they complete the majority of their studies. Additionally, they may attend courses at a host higher education institution in Switzerland. The latter is defined as student mobility within Switzerland. Mobility may be compulsory or optional, ranging from a single course to an entire exchange semester or year. The data concern mobility only within Switzerland: international mobility (such as Erasmus) is not included.

Percentage of mobile students by gender and age class, since 2015/16

	2015/16	2017/18	2019/20	2021/22
Total	4.0	3.7	3.8	3.8
Gender
Male	4.1	3.8	3.8	3.9
Female	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.8
Age class
less than 20 years	1.7	1.7	2.0	1.8
20-24 years	3.8	3.4	3.5	3.9
25-29 years	5.4	5.2	5.1	4.9
30-39 years	4.6	4.2	4.0	3.7
40 years or older	3.0	3.2	3.2	2.7

Source: FSO - SHIS-studex, ASBOS

There were only slight differences in mobility behaviour between the genders: the discrepancy in the observed years of study amounted to maximum 0.1 percentage points.

However, mobility behaviour varied greatly depending on a student’s age. A similar pattern was observed in all years examined. Under-20-year-olds were the least mobile. Between 1.7% and 2.0% of them attended a course at a host higher education institution. In contrast, the highest mobility rate was recorded in the 25- to 29-year-old age group (4.9% to 5.4%). The mobility rate then declined steadily among students over the age of 30.

UIT: Outgoing mobility

Outgoing mobility describes how many students who are enrolled at the monitored original higher education institution attend courses at another higher education institution (host higher education institution).

The highest outgoing mobility rate of 6.8% has been observed at the University of Lausanne, followed by the University of Zurich (5.7%) and the University of Neuchâtel (5.6%). Students at the University of Zurich mostly (4.8%) attended courses at the ETH Zurich. The lowest outgoing mobility rate in the academic year 2021/22 was registered at the University of St. Gallen, where it was just 1.1%.

UIT: Incoming mobility

Incoming mobility describes the number of students who have obtained credits at a host higher education institution at which they were not enrolled.

In 2021/22, the highest incoming mobility rate of 9.2% was registered at the University of Neuchâtel, as it is part of two cooperation networks: Triangle Azur (with Geneva and Lausanne) and BeNeFri (with Bern and Fribourg). The second-highest incoming mobility rates were observed at the ETH Zurich and at the EPFL (6.7% resp. 6.3%). The majority of students came from the University of Zurich and, respectively, from the University of Lausanne, signaling both the close cooperation as well as the geographic proximity of these two higher education institutions. The lowest incoming mobility rate was recorded at the University of St. Gallen (Uni SG).

UTE: Outgoing mobility

Outgoing mobility describes how many students who are enrolled at the monitored original higher education institution attend courses at another higher education institution (host higher education institution).

The highest outgoing mobility rate in the academic year 2021/22 was registered at the UTE Schwyz (12.4%). The second-highest incoming mobility rate was observed at the UTE Bern (12.0%); almost all mobile students attended courses at the University of Bern. The situation at the UTE Thurgau is a particular one. It works in close cooperation with the University of Constance in the branches Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary and students attend a part of their studies at the University of Constance. As Constance is not in Switzerland, this mobility is not shown here.

UTE: Incoming mobility

Incoming mobility describes the number of students who have obtained credits at a host higher education institution at which they were not enrolled.

The UTE with the highest incoming mobility rate of 6.4% in 2021/22 was the UTE Bern. The incoming students are almost exclusively from the University of Bern. The second-highest incoming mobility rates were measured at the SUPSI-DFA and the UTE FHNW (both 2.7%).

The UTE Schwyz, the UTE Zug, the UTE Schaffhausen, the UTE Grisons and the SHLR recorded no incoming students. For this reason, they do not appear in the graph.

Further information

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