A calculator provides information on ETH scholarships

Approximately 18,500 students are enrolled at ETH Zurich for the start of the autumn semester 2014/2015. For these students, studying at ETH is an investment in their professional future. At present, only around 1% receive a scholarship from ETH Zurich to cover their study and living costs. In 2013, for example, the university paid out approximately one million francs in social scholarships to students with insufficient financial resources to pay for their studies.

“People wishing to study at ETH Zurich should not have to extend their studies or drop out altogether for financial reasons,” says Silvia Biedermann, Head of Student Services. ETH Zurich’s own scholarship programme is in place to ensure this.

The university awards this scholarship for a full study year (autumn and spring semester) to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at ETH. An application must be submitted beforehand. This programme complements scholarships awarded by the student’s canton of residence or country of origin.

Effective assistance for students

At the start of the semester, ETH Zurich implemented various measures to raise awareness among students of the availability of support funding. “We want to provide even more effective assistance for our students,” says Silvia Biedermann.

In additional to emails to new students as well as flyers and posters, the university set up an online external pagescholarship calculatorcall_made, which calculates the potential amount a student is eligible to receive. “Students can use this calculator to find out what their prospects are in applying for a scholarship,” says Biedermann.

To calculate the potential amount, students (or a relative) must enter various details relevant for calculating the scholarship amount. This includes the following:

• Personal information (e.g. nationality, residence permit, place of residence, marital status, study as first educational qualification)
• Details on other forms of financial support (e.g. cantonal scholarships, loans, alimony, wages)
• Details on the student’s family situation (e.g. marital status, income and assets of parents or number of siblings in education)
• Information on study expenses (living and travel costs, cost of living, tuition fees and additional educational costs)

Personal data such as the student’s name, matriculation number, bank accounts, insurance numbers and so on are not required for the scholarship calculator. By clicking through the various sections, students gain a better understanding of the criteria used by ETH Zurich to calculate the scholarship amount.

The actual amount awarded to students is determined by ETH based on the application and the official documents submitted, and is also coordinated with the scholarships awarded by the student’s canton or country of origin.

No federal funding for scholarships

“ETH Zurich’s social scholarships are granted in addition to those awarded by the cantons,” says Silvia Biedermann, “but we can use our scholarships to compensate for the various funding approaches employed by the cantons. We can also grant them if a student is not eligible to receive a cantonal scholarship, for example, due to their age.”

In Switzerland, scholarship amounts vary depending on the canton. In addition to social scholarships, which compensate for financial bottlenecks that arise when studying, ETH Zurich also offers special scholarships for certain groups of students and excellence scholarships for students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance.

ETH does not use federal funds for its scholarships: the funds for the scholarships come from private sources (predominantly from legacies). ETH Zurich has around a dozen scholarship funds in total.

Foreign students must fully finance their first year using their own resources before they are permitted to apply for an ETH scholarship.

Scholarship amount increased

With the launch of the calculator at the beginning of the semester, ETH Zurich has changed a few conditions regarding how scholarships are awarded. This includes the following key developments:

1. Higher maximum amount awarded
   Scholarships for Swiss students and permanent residents now cover a maximum of 60% of study and living costs (previously 50%). For foreign students, coverage amounts to a maximum of 40% (previously 25%).
   The maximum scholarship now amounts to CHF 15,400 per year (previously CHF 11,400) for Swiss students and permanent residents and CHF 10,200 (previously CHF 5,700) for foreign students. The minimum ETH scholarship is CHF 1,300.
2. Higher budget for study and living costs
   The maximum amount awarded for study and living costs is now CHF 25,600 per year (previously CHF 22,800). If ETH students have children, this now amounts to CHF 32,800 (previously CHF 28,500).
   Study and living costs are calculated according to study-related expenses (referred to as the budget). This budget consists of a basic fee for catering, insurance, personal expenses, living costs, travel costs, tuition fees and additional educational costs.
3. Financial contribution to additional educational costs
   This academic year, ETH Zurich introduced an amount of CHF 1,000 to cover additional educational costs. This corresponds to the request made by the students’ association VSETH.
4. Duration of the scholarship
   The period in which ETH scholarships are paid out has been extended and now corresponds to the maximum length of study as determined by the departments in the study programme regulations.
   A standard period of study at ETH Zurich consists of six regular semesters for undergraduate degrees and three to four semesters for a graduate degree. Undergraduate students can extend this standard period of study by up to four semesters and graduate students by up to three or four semesters (depending on the subject), e.g. if they do an internship during their study.

First-semester students can submit their application to the scholarship service until the end of the second week of the autumn semester. Students who have been studying for longer than one semester should submit their application between 1 March and 30 June for the following study year.