A total of around 27,700 people will return to or begin studying at the University of Zurich next week. Of those, 3,500 are just starting out on their university careers at the Bachelor’s level. More students are embarking on Master’s programs than last year.
On 18 September, the start of the academic year rolls around again. According to provisional figures, there will be 27,671 students at UZH for the 2023 Fall Semester, compared to 27,895 last year (figures do not include MAS students). Although the final numbers will not be available until November, these provisional figures show that the total number of students matriculated at the University of Zurich remains steady.
Increasing number of Master’s students
Most students at UZH are enrolled on Bachelor’s programs (2023: 14,234, 2022: 14,353). There are slightly more newly matriculated students at this level than last year: while 3,462 people embarked on a Bachelor’s degree in 2022, this year the number of new matriculations currently stands at 3,500.At Master’s level, the number of students has also increased, with around 7,790 people enrolled for the 2023 Fall Semester (2022: 7,430). The number of doctoral students has reached around 5,140, compared to 5,618 last year. There are 511 people studying for the Teaching Diploma (2022: 494).
More women
Around 22.8 percent of the total student body is from outside Switzerland, slightly up on last year’s 22.4 percent. Foreign students at UZH are mainly from Germany, Italy, China and Austria. There has also been a slight increase in the proportion of women, who make up 59.5 percent of students (2022: 58.9 percent). In particular in the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, there are more female students than in 2022.Law and medicine remain popular
In terms of student numbers, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences remains the largest faculty with around 9,720 students. It is followed by the Faculty of Science (approx. 4,960 students), the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics (approx. 4,210 students) and the Faculty of Medicine (approx. 3,890 students). Around 3,830 people are enrolled at the Faculty of Law, 750 at the Vetsuisse Faculty and 280 at the Faculty of Theology.The most popular courses are in law and human medicine, followed by psychology, informatics, business administration, and banking and finance.
