Scholarships 2025: The canton remains a decisive factor
Awards per recipient have risen. Yet both the share of those supported and the amounts continue to differ markedly between cantons.
Anyone who has to finance an education after the Matura, a vocational apprenticeship or a career change looks first at rent, living costs and possible paid work. Another variable is less visible but can be decisive: the canton responsible for the scholarship application.
New data from the Federal Statistical Office show a familiar pattern with new sharpness for the years 2010 to 2025. Average scholarships paid out have risen across Switzerland. At the same time, fewer people receive an award relative to all persons in education than 15 years ago. And the spread between cantons remains considerable.
Higher amounts, lower recipient rate
Across all post-compulsory levels of education, the average scholarship per recipient stood at CHF 7,627 Switzerland-wide in 2025. In 2010 it was CHF 6,202. That corresponds to a nominal increase of around 23 percent.
This figure alone would be misleading, however. It says nothing about how many people actually receive a scholarship. It is precisely there that the statistics show an opposite development: in 2010, 8.8 percent of persons in post-compulsory education received a scholarship; in 2025 the figure was 7.1 percent.
The decline is particularly pronounced at tertiary level, that is at universities and in higher vocational education. There the recipient rate fell from 10.2 percent in 2010 to 6.1 percent in 2025. The average amount per award rose at the same time from CHF 7,731 to CHF 9,182.
That does not automatically mean that financing an education has become worse overall. But it does show that higher average amounts do not necessarily reach a larger circle of learners and students.
The cantonal spread remains wide
The federal reality becomes even clearer when comparing cantons. In 2025, the average scholarship amount across post-compulsory levels of education was CHF 4,417 in Aargau and CHF 9,244 in Geneva. That is more than double.
The gap is also considerable in the recipient rate. In Obwalden and Nidwalden, 2.7 percent of persons in education each received a scholarship. In Geneva it was 14.3 percent. At tertiary level, the rate ranged from 2.7 percent in Bern to 15 percent in Graubünden.
Such differences have practical consequences for those affected. Anyone planning a budget cannot assume that similar incomes, similar courses of study and similar housing situations across Switzerland lead to similar scholarships. Access still depends on cantonal rules as well.
No ranking of the «most generous» cantons
The figures invite quick judgments. But a simple ranking of the «most generous» or «most frugal» cantons would be wrong. The average amount refers only to persons who already receive a scholarship. It does not show how much support is available on average to all students.
Moreover, the differences can have several causes: eligibility rules, age limits, the treatment of parents' and partners' income, the share of learners at upper secondary level, the composition of courses of study or cantonal changes in the law. Small cantons can also fluctuate more strongly in individual years.
FSO data also record only contributions from the responsible cantonal authorities. Private foundations, municipalities, contributions from universities, EU programmes or research scholarships are not included. That is another reason why the statistics cannot be used to deduce directly how well or badly an individual can finance their studies.
Harmonisation with limits
The cantons are responsible for education grants. The scholarship concordat of the Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education has set key principles and minimum standards since 2013. The Confederation promotes harmonisation at tertiary level through the Education Grants Act.
That has reduced differences but not removed them. In this area, federalism still means that cantons decide on substantial parts of eligibility and calculation. For the political debate, the interesting question is therefore less whether exactly the same amounts should apply everywhere. What matters is whether access to an education actually remains comparable for young people and adults with a comparable financial starting position.
For the average person in Switzerland the consequence is concrete: a scholarship application should not be treated as a side issue. Anyone planning an education should check the rules of the responsible cantonal authority early on. Because when it comes to financing education, the canton is not merely administration – it is a decisive factor for genuine equality of opportunity.
Sources
- Federal Statistical Office: Development of scholarships by canton 2010–2025: bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bildung-wissenschaft/b…
- FSO: Data set for the chart: dam-api.bfs.admin.ch/hub/api/dam/assets/orderNr:ds-x-15.06.…
- EDK: Scholarships and the scholarship concordat: https://www.edk.ch/de/themen/stipendien
- SBFI: Federal contributions to cantonal education grants: sbfi.admin.ch/de/bundesbeitraege-an-die-kantonalen-aufwendu…
