Foreign students stay away from Switzerland

The fall-out from Swiss voters’ decision to limit EU immigration is not just affecting businesses. Uncertainty over grants means up to a third fewer foreign students have registered at Swiss universities this semester.
Two hundred foreign students will attend the University of Geneva, down from 300 last year, according to Le Matin Dimanche newspaper. A similar percentage drop has been seen at the University of Fribourg (137 to 85).
Decreases of 10-15% have been reported by the University of Neuchâtel, the University of Lausanne and the federal technology institutes in Zurich and Lausanne (ETHZ and EPFL). The only increase was at the University of Zurich, where numbers for foreign students have risen from 135 to 148 since last year. On February 9, 50.3% of Swiss voters approved an initiative to curb immigration. More...