Number of Students at UZH Remains High

Imformation day for new students at UZH. (Image: UZH)

As the lecture period begins on 17 September, the University of Zurich has a total of approx. 26,500 students (including students of Master of Advanced Studies), which is roughly the same as in the Fall Semester last year (2017: 26,472). The number of students enrolled in Bachelor’s degree programs has remained constant at 13,560, while there has been an increase of 4 percent among Master’s students compared to last year (2018: 6,457). A total of 5,150 scholars are studying towards their doctoral degree (2017: 5,324). At 58 percent, the percentage of women at UZH is unchanged, as is the share of students from abroad, at 19 percent. “These figures show that the University of Zurich is as attractive as ever, at all academic levels,” says Prof. Gabriele Siegert, Vice President Education and Student Affairs.

Slight increase

The overall number of students enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine has gone up, from 3,481 in 2017 to 3,656 in 2018: This is due to an increase in the share of doctoral candidates as well as – as in the previous year – the 372 places in the Bachelor’s degree program in human medicine and chiropractic medicine that are available to new students. Included in this number are 40 places each in the “St. Galler Track” program and the “Luzerner Track” program, where students can obtain their Bachelor’s degree at UZH and then go on to study for their Master’s degree at one of the partner universities as part of a joint Master’s degree program.

The Faculty of Science has also seen a light increase in the number of students (4,350 students), while there has been no significant change in the number of students at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics (3,630 students), the Faculty of Theology (350 students), the Vetsuisse Faculty (690 students), the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (10,300 students) as well as the Faculty of Law (3,520 students). For the latter, the double degree Master’s program with the University of Amsterdam introduced in 2017 as well as the Master’s degree module “Law Clinic”, which features concrete examples from the everyday practice of law, have piqued students’ interest.

Around 40 high school students at UZH

The University Program for School Students has been newly introduced at UZH this Fall Semester. The pilot project is aimed at talented, motivated and academically engaged high school students in the Canton of Zurich who are within one or two years of graduating from Gymnasium. The high school students are registered through their cantonal or private Gymnasium, and 37 of them have enrolled in one of the modules on offer in the first semester. “We’re very pleased that our program has been so well received and that so many students will get a sneak preview of university life before they graduate from Gymnasium,” says Gabriele Siegert. “With this pilot project, we want to bring high-performing and interested high school students into contact with research and academic learning. We’re excited to see how they experience this world.”

The modules chosen by the high school students cover a wide range of fields – from the study of religions and communications science to law, computational linguistics, neuroinformatics and astrophysics. High school students taking part in the program will attend the regular courses, where they will be accompanied by students. “We’re monitoring the program and will then evaluate and decide on how to shape the program in the future,” says Vice President Gabriele Siegert.