University Of Bern

The University of Bern (German: Universität Bern, Latin: Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programs in eight faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Theology, Law, Economics, Science, Medicine, Psychology and Educational Sciences. With around 17,000 students, it is the third biggest university in Switzerland.

The University of Bern operates at three levels: as an institution providing degrees at bachelor’s level; as a provider of advanced education leading to the licentiate or doctorate; as a basic research center. In addition to these academic activities, there are also continuing education programs for business people and various types of adult education.

The language of instruction is usually German, but individual courses may be offered in English if demanded by students or if teaching staff from other countries are involved. Master’s degree programs are also offered in English. Bachelor’s degree program tuition fees were abolished by vote of the student body on November 12th 2013, while those for Master’s and PhD programs remain.
All students with Swiss nationality or holding a permanent residence permit pay semester fees set currently at CHF 290.- (US$ 320 as of October 2016). Foreign nationals pay CHF 500 per semester (US$ 550). The amount covers half-price public transport passes for all zones within Switzerland and contributions to student organizations such as the AStA (Allgemeiner Studentenausschuss – General Student Committee), printshop discounts etc.. There are additional expenses associated with studying which must be borne by all students such as course literature, living costs etc..[26 Semester fees were first introduced at Swiss universities during the Fall semester 2001.[27 Before that date they had been covered by cantons or private sponsors. As everywhere else in Europe, tertiary level tuition has become more common over time although free university education still exists in some countries such as Germany ,[29 Finland ,[30 Norway , Sweden [31 Denmark [32 Iceland [33 Austria ,[34 Slovenia , Greece Cyprus .[37 In 2003/2004 only around 20% of all tertiary level institutions charged their students any kind of tuition fee whereas this share had increased to 33% ten years later. At public Universities Fees vary considerably between different cantons: In Basel-City for example they were twice as high as those charged at Zurich’s Federal Institute Of Technology (ETH) during 2014/2015 whereas Geneva’s charges were almost four times higher than ETH’s.[39 Private universities generally charge much higher rates than public ones.