Bachelor’s students enrolled at the FHNW School of Business may (or if they are BSc IM full-time students, must) apply for one semester abroad at one of the partner universities or go abroad as free movers. The selection process to go to one of our partner universities always happens during the spring semesters (February/March), but preparation starts during the preceding autumn semesters already. To apply for an exchange place, there are some requirements that need to be fulfilled to be able to participate in the selection process regulated by the International Office.
Students who wish to go abroad as free movers will follow a different application procedure. Applications for free-mover semesters need to be discussed with the programme dean and will not be processed by the International Office.
The Study Abroad Manual contains essential information concerning all aspects of studying abroad for bachelor's degree students at the FHNW School of Business.
What are the benefits of an exchange semester?
Here is a list of the 10 most important reasons to study abroad:
Experience and adapt to different styles of teaching
Learn to adapt to a new culture and environment
Improve your language skills and/or learn a new language
Increase your employment opportunities
Find new interests and get new ideas
Make lifelong friends and expand your network
Personal development, grow your soft skills
Expand your worldview, become a global citizen
Boost your confidence
Discover career opportunities abroad
Partner universities
With 200 partner universities worldwide, the FHNW School of Business is well networked internationally. An overview of all partner universities marked with "(BSc)" for student exchange at Bachelor level can be found here.
Choosing the right destination and/or university to study abroad is one of the most important decisions for your personal career and development. Despite if you have preferences, you might want to do some research. We recommend looking into certain criteria like regions, countries and their culture, cities, universities, study programmes, courses, facilities, living cost, transport, or weather. Other factors that you might consider could be financial options, local language, or application requirements.
Mobility within Europe
Erasmus+ is the European Union programme to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe. Since 2014, Switzerland has no longer been a programme country of Erasmus+, but a partner country. The Federal Council funds the participation of Swiss institutions to enable the cooperation and mobility through the Swiss-European Mobility Programme (SEMP).
Mobility outside Europe
The FHNW School of Business also has bilateral exchange agreements with non-European universities. For bachelor’s level, students can do an exchange semester in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, and South America.
Free movers are students who:
a) wish to spend their exchange semester at a university that is not a partner of the FHNW School of Business, b) wish to spend another semester abroad in addition to the semester they have already spent abroad, c) have not accepted the place allocated to them by the International Office and still wish to study abroad for a semester.
These students pay tuition fees at the host university. However, students who will pay semester study fees at their chosen host university may write a request to have their semester fees at the FHNW waived if the study fees abroad exceed the fee charged by FHNW.
The FHNW School of Business has a few partner universities which are marked like “Free movers’ recommendation” which means that the International Office has checked their course offer and approved them.
An initial information session called "A Taste of International Opportunities" is offered for all first year FHNW School of Business bachelor’s students during the introductory days (in September). This session is followed by the "(Virtual) International Afternoon & Mobility Fair" session at the end of October, which is mandatory for all students planning to go abroad in the following academic year.
To be able to apply, students must have:
attended the (Virtual) International Afternoon & Mobility Fair,
passed the assessment semester (full-time students) respectively passed all mandatory courses (27 ECTS) in the semester before the application (semester 1 or 3) at the time of application,
proven language skills required by the preferred host universities
Students who fulfil the above conditions will be invited to apply by the International Office in February. They are then responsible for the complete compilation of the application documents and their submission by the deadline.
Living costs
Studying abroad implies extra costs. Cost factors depend on each individual and destination. However, the main costs concern the cost of living in the host country, your lifestyle, travel costs as well as extracurricular activities. Therefore, it is important to make an estimation of your possible costs before studying abroad.
Based on former FHNW School of Business outgoing students’ experience reports, the amounts below show the average expenses students had for their whole semester abroad.
Regions
Swiss Francs
Asia
6,200 - 8,200
Australia
At least 11,000
Europe
5,400 - 7,300
North America & Canada
7,500 - 9,600
South America
7,000 - 9,400
Swiss-European Mobility Programme (SEMP)
Students who wish to study at a European partner university remain enrolled at FHNW during the exchange and continue to pay FHNW tuition fees, but they are exempted from the partner university’s tuition fees. Additionally, these students are entitled to receive a SEMP mobility grant. SEMP mobility grant (PDF)
Greener Mobility Students who travel to their host country by any mean of transportation that generates less CO2 than the airplane will receive an additional financial support of CHF 100.00. Students must keep and submit the respective receipts (outward and return journey). Greener Mobility
External scholarships to study abroad
Outgoing students can find additional financial support through external sources. Please review the swissuniversities site here.
