ETH Zurich increases scholarships
The ETH Executive Board has decided to issue more scholarships from the autumn semester 2019. It will also increase the amounts paid out. For the most financially disadvantaged, this will serve to offset the increase in tuition fees introduced by the ETH Board.
In autumn 2019, ETH Zurich will make changes to its scholarship regulations to absorb the increase in tuition fees introduced by the ETH Board last year. However, the supervisory body of ETH Zurich has maintained a sense of proportion by increasing tuition fees a total of CHF 300 per year in two phases. And in increasing scholarships, ETH Zurich is also fulfilling its promise of compensating for this additional burden on the financially disadvantaged. The scholarship regulations were revised in consultation with representatives of VSETH (Association of Students at ETH).
Higher scholarships and more of them
ETH Zurich will now offer a maximum of 65 percent rather than the previous 60 percent of living costs to students with Swiss entry qualifications. This increases the maximum amount for students who live with their parents by CHF 800, and for those living independently by CHF 1,200. This is usually supplemented by scholarships from the cantons, which bear primary responsibility for issuing scholarships. For foreign students, maximum contributions will increase from 40 to 45 percent of living costs, or CHF 1,300. As before, they can only apply for a scholarship after completing their first year of study at ETH.
In addition, the Executive Board has decided to issue scholarships starting at CHF 600, thus reducing the threshold for payments, which was previously set at CHF 1,280. This will allow ETH Zurich to extend support to more students.
Offsetting the tuition fee increase
These measures also mean that ETH Zurich is in a position to absorb the tuition fee increase for all students eligible for a scholarship. “Whether or not a gifted young person can study at ETH should not be decided by their financial situation,” says ETH Rector Sarah M. Springman of the underlying motivation.
Nearly 400 social scholarships have been issued each year in recent years, amounting to a sum of roughly CHF 3 million a year. The new measures could increase this sum by about half a million. This will not just increase the number and amount of existing scholarships; ETH Zurich also expects scholarship applications to increase slightly – not least through this article.