ZHAW School of Management and Law (SW) — St.-Georgen-Platz 2, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland

I had a very negative experience. The school cancelled an exam that was officially scheduled for the spring semester – just a few weeks before it was supposed to take place. Normally, this exam is offered twice a year (spring and fall), and I had registered for the spring session. When they cancelled it, I couldn’t complete my degree as planned. I did apply for jobs, but every employer told me the same thing: applications without a completed degree wouldn’t be considered. At first, the school even denied that the spring exam had ever been planned – until I provided clear proof. After that, I had multiple discussions with the management and other staff, but the explanations were inconsistent and unconvincing. Their main excuse was that the cancellation was linked to the new AACSB accreditation – but AACSB themselves later confirmed that this wasn’t true. Even the student union couldn’t help. As a result, I had to pay another CHF 870 semester fee just to retake the exam later. Overall, this situation caused me significant financial damage, easily tens of thousands of Swiss francs, and major delays in my career. It honestly felt as if the school intentionally prolonged the process just to collect another semester fee which led to a financial demage for me around CHF 45k - 50K. The education itself is also disappointing. Most of the content is overly theoretical and has little to no practical relevance. The school tries to present itself as comparable to the University of St. Gallen, but the difference in quality is huge. Honestly, if you spend a few weeks learning practical business skills like Excel or analytics through good online resources, you’ll be much better prepared for a real job than after studying here. I would never study here again.

F. T.

I really loved my exchange semester at ZHAW in Winterthur. The school facilities as well as the courses and the city around was incredible. The International department at ZHAW helped the incoming students to be integrated and offered us a Welcome Program and different outgoing events. I would recommend this university to any students who want to study abroad and discover Switzerland.

Elodie Abt

My exchange semester at ZHAW in Winterthur was fantastic. Straight from the point of applying for VISA to every other detail, the International department at ZHAW assisted the arriving students. We even got a good icebreaker program, a Welcome party and several outgoing events. Loved it.

Yash Devikar

Great school in a great location. I absolutely loved studying abroad there. They prepared me well for my current job in private equity with all of the practical finance and law classes. So glad I was able to attend there and get to travel all around Switzerland and Europe.

Seth Blomdahl

Great school for practical learning and good business cases. The ZHAW is known by most employers in Switzerland and their diplomas are valuable on the job market. The outside of the university is old and looks a bit like the colosseum in Rome, the interior is modern and the equipment has a good standard(Could still be improved, especially the chairs in the big rooms). By having a lot of partner universities abroad most Bachelor and Masters majors have the possibility to go for one or two semesters abroad.

Alessandro Vitale

The ZHAW School of Management and Law was incredible. I studied here for a semester and loved every second of my education and experience. I was randomly selected to attend a trip in Laax, Switzerland and had an amazing time! Thank you for everything ZHAW. I had an a experience in the classroom, made lifelong friends, and had an overall sensational time.

Mike Cutro