Tuition and scholarships for Bachelor's programmes

The Department of Education, Culture and Sport (Dipartimento dell’Educazione, della cultura e dello sport - DECS) of the Canton of Ticino provides financial support to students who meet its residency requirements.

The information booklet and the application forms can be downloaded from the web page: www4.ti.ch/decs/sa/uast/sportello/formulari-e-opuscoli (in Italian only).

A related web page provides information about private foundations active in Ticino: www4.ti.ch/decs/sa/uast/fondazioni-private/fondazioni-private (in Italian only).

For further details, please contact the “Ufficio degli aiuti allo studio”: www4.ti.ch/decs/sa/uast/ufficio.

Swiss students residing in other cantons can apply for educational funding from the competent cantonal office, which can be found through the following website: www.edk.ch/it/temi/borse-di-studio/uffici-cantonali.

2024/25

For the academic year 2024/25, the Foundation for the Lugano Faculties of the Università della Svizzera italiana will award:

• one-off scholarships of CHF 4'000 each to students admitted to the first year of the Bachelor in Communication, Bachelor in Data Science, Bachelor in Economics, Bachelor in Informatics or Bachelor in Italian Language, Literature and Culture, who obtained their high-school degree and who at the moment of graduation had legal residence in the German- or French-speaking cantons of Switzerland. The aim is to increase the multilingual and multicultural diversity of our university. The scholarship is awarded automatically once the matriculation procedure has been completed. 
• 20 annual scholarships to students admitted to the first year of the Bachelor in Communication, Bachelor in Data Science, Bachelor in Economics, Bachelor in Informatics or Bachelor in Italian Language, Literature and Culture

    Call

    Applications must be submitted through the appropriate online form, the link of which will be provided in the letter of admission to the Bachelor’s programme, by July 31st, 2024.

• 5 annual scholarships to students enrolled in the third year of the Bachelor in Italian Language, Literature and Culture
  Call (in Italian only)

    Applications must be submitted through the appropriate online form, the link of which can be found in the call, by July 31st, 2024.

• 25 scholarships of CHF 2'000 each to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine

    Call

For scholarships granted by private foundations to students enrolled in the Academy of Architecture, please refer to the web page www.arc.usi.ch/en/practical-information/scholarships.

For scholarships available for students enrolled in one of the Bachelor’s programmes offered by the Faculty of Theology, please visit the web page of the desired programme, which can be accessed by clicking on the following link: www.ftl.usi.ch/it/didattica/bachelor-lauree-triennali.

2024/25

The call will be available in May 2024.

2023/24

The Equal Opportunities Service of the Università della Svizzera italiana organises a contest for one scholarship worth CHF 4’000 for a female student admitted to the first year of the Bachelor in Informatics. The deadline for submitting the applications is July 14th, 2023.

• Call
• Application form

2024/25

The call will be available in September 2024.

2023/24

Swiss and foreign students enrolled at the Università della Svizzera italiana can apply for a scholarship granted by the Leonardo Foundation. Applications must be submitted through the appropriate online form by October 31st, 2023.

• Call (in Italian only)
• Application form for Swiss students
  (to be submitted in paper form to the Leonardo Foundation’s Secretariat)
• Application form for foreign students
  (to be submitted electronically)

2024/25

The call will be available in June 2024.

2023/24 

The descendants of Arnoldo Bettelini, a Swiss naturalist and philanthropist who promoted the foundation of a university in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, offer a three-year scholarship, up to a maximum of 4'000 CHF for each academic year, to students admitted to the first year of a USI Bachelor's programme. Candidates are required to write a short essay, which must be sent together with a declaration of intellectual honesty by 6:00 pm of August 31st, 2023.

• Call (in Italian only)
• Regulations (in Italian only)
• Declaration of intellectual honesty (in Italian only)

2024/25

The call will be available in September 2024.

2023/24 

The Ermes and Fiorella Borsari Foundation offers scholarships for university studies in Economics and/or Fine arts (sculpture and painting), aimed at students born or residing in the Canton of Ticino who attend a Swiss university, a recognized or accredited Swiss university of applied sciences and arts or the Brera Academy in Milan. Deadline for submitting applications for subsidies: May 30th, 2024.

• Call (in Italian only)

2024/25

The Swiss Study Foundation offers a wide range of support for students with outstanding academic results (grade point average: 5.3/6 or 8.8/10), who engage in activities in society and who speak at least two national languages. The Foundation is also able, depending on need and personal profile, to provide financial support to students, as well as doctoral students, already admitted to the Swiss Study Foundation. For more information, please visit the website www.studyfoundation.ch/.

• Letter of invitation to apply (in Italian only)
• Brochure of the Foundation (in Italian only)

Fondazione Lang e per la Cultura Italiana del Cantone Ticino

2024/25

The call will be available in June 2024.

2023/24

Fondazione Lang e per la Cultura Italiana del Cantone Ticino offers several scholarships to university students or graduates from Ticino who have the intention of continuing their studies in Switzerland or Italy. The duly completed and signed participation form, accompanied by all required documentation, must be sent by October 21st, 2023.

• Call (in Italian only)
• Application form (in Italian only)

2024/25

The call will be available in September 2024.

2023/24

The Board of the Silvio and Marianne Tarchini Foundation has opened the competition for the assignment of scholarships aimed at deserving young Swiss people, primarily from Ticino, for studies in the Federal Universities and Polytechnics in Switzerland, for studies in the Professional University Schools (SUP) and for other higher professional training. Preference will be given to studies in economics or architecture or similar disciplines and priority will be given to students of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture. The application must be submitted by October 27th, 2023 via the form accessible on the web page www.fondazione-tarchini.ch/.

With the aim of promoting research on topics relating to the Verzasca Valley, the Verzasca Foundation is instituting an annual prize open to all recent graduates from Switzerland or residing in Switzerland, enrolled in a Swiss or foreign university. Master's or doctoral work will be awarded CHF 2'000 and Bachelor's or diploma work will be awarded CHF 1'000. Papers in all fields of research, written in one of the 3 official languages (in special cases, also in English), are eligible. The submission deadline is July 31st of each year.

• Call (in Italian only)

• Regulations (in Italian only)

2023/24

The Università della Svizzera italiana undertakes to support, within the limits of its possibility, its students enrolled in the Academy of Architecture, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Communication, Faculty of Culture and Society, Faculty of Economics or Faculty of Informatics in situations of serious financial difficulty through the allocation of solidarity grants and loans.

• Disposizioni (in Italian only)
• Application form - Lugano Faculties
• Application form - Academy of Architecture

For further information, please contact:

• Academy of Architecture: [email protected]
• Faculty of Biomedical Sciences: [email protected]
• Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society and Faculty of Informatics: [email protected]
• Faculty of Theology: [email protected]