Boom in number of students and women at ETH

Interest in ETH programmes has never been greater than in 2018. With 4,500 new students at Bachelor and Master level, the number of students has surged to over 21,000 – a new record. Only last year ETH topped the 20,000 mark. The 4,300 doctoral students and students in continuing education help to achieve this record high. "The latest figures show that ETH Zurich is continuing to attract students at all levels," says ETH Rector Sarah Springman. Growth is particularly vigorous in computer science. "We’re proud to be playing our part in alleviating the shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland," adds Springman. "A second piece of good news at the start of term is that the proportion of women on the majority of degree programmes is growing steadily."

Proportion of women hits 36 percent

At Bachelor level, ETH Zurich will welcome 3,080 new students on its 24 degree programmes (previous year 3,016). Despite a decline of 10 percent compared to the previous year, Mechanical Engineering is still the largest study programme with 441 admissions. Computer Science has caught up fast with 376 admissions (+14 percent). Architecture – also traditionally in high demand – ranks third with 295 students. Across all departments, the number of prospective engineers rose from 1,274 in the previous year to 1,338. Encouragingly, the proportion of women at Bachelor level has grown to 36 percent, compared to 33.7 percent in the previous year. The proportion of foreign students has risen slightly to 14 percent (previous year 12.8 percent).

More Master’s students than ever before

Although exact figures will only be determined at the end of the second week of term, there is a marked increase in admissions to Master's programmes too. More than 95 percent of ETH Bachelor’s degree students decide to continue their studies at ETH. In addition, this year for the first time, more than 1,000 students who gained a Bachelor's degree at another university, in most cases abroad, are joining ETH. The ETH Master’s programmes continue to enjoy popularity, with 4,700 applications setting yet another record. 1,736 of these applicants were accepted for their studies, which is around 20 percent more admissions than in 2017. Past experience shows that almost two-thirds of those admitted actually take up their places.

Exchanges are thriving

In addition to these two main categories of new entrants, some 443 exchange students and visiting students are joining ETH Zurich in the autumn for one or two semesters. In the spring semester, 317 foreign students came to ETH Zurich – the majority within the framework of exchange programmes and bilateral exchange agreements with partner universities. ETH Zurich fosters such agreements with 150 universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, who in turn offer ETH students an opportunity to study abroad.