Money help for students: EPFL scholarships, emergency aid and Vaud study grants
To verify This page has 2 items that could not be confirmed on an official page. Check them yourself before relying on them:
What financial help exists for EPFL students, who can get it, the 2026-27 deadlines, and how a grant interacts with residence tax, health-insurance subsidies and student jobs. Orientation for international students, not financial or legal advice. The offices named below decide every case.
Key facts
- Plan your funding before you arrive. EPFL says to budget about CHF 29,000 per year for living costs, plus tuition. For international students, EPFL says funding for the whole of your studies must be secured before you join, and that it cannot help when the problem is poor budget planning.
- EPFL social scholarship (need-based): up to CHF 2,600 per month, for 5 or 10 months per academic year. International students can apply only after at least one year at EPFL, once the first-year cycle is passed, and only after an unexpected and sudden change in their (or their family's) situation. Next deadlines: 1 December 2026 and 15 February 2027.
- Financial emergency support: one-time help for sudden, unforeseen hardship, maximum CHF 2,500 over your whole CMS, Bachelor's and Master's studies. Start with an appointment at the Social consultation.
- Master Excellence Fellowship (merit-based): CHF 10,000 per semester, up to 4 semesters. Application deadline 15 December (31 January for EPFL Bachelor's students continuing in the same field).
- Vaud cantonal study grants (OCBE) are mainly for Swiss citizens and residents whose parents live in Vaud. Vaud law says people who live in Vaud only to study are not entitled. Most international students on a student permit therefore do not qualify.
- A study grant can exempt you from the residence tax (taxe de séjour, CHF 37 per month in Lausanne and nearby communes). Keep your grant attestation; EPFL notes the exemption is not guaranteed and depends on each commune.
- Income tax: if you file a Vaud tax return, you report a study grant as tax-exempt income; Vaud says it is not taxed if there is no service in return and the holder is in need. Whether an international student has to file depends on tax domicile (see Student tax).
Talk to someone first: EPFL Social consultation
The Social consultation offers free, neutral and confidential support, in French or English, on campus or online. Its listed topics include administrative procedures, financial problems and scholarships. It can point you to the right EPFL service or outside resource and help you with the steps.
- Email: consultation.sociale@epfl.ch (checked every business day, reply within 48 hours)
- It is also the mandatory first step for EPFL financial emergency support (below).
- For psychological support, see Mental health at EPFL.
Source: EPFL, Social consultation
Already in debt or behind on bills: see Budget and debt help in Vaud.
EPFL need-based help
EPFL social scholarship
Who can apply
| Your situation | When you can apply | Main conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss student, C permit holder or refugee | From the first year (in exceptional cases from the CMS) | Difficult financial situation; you must also apply for a cantonal grant (rejected or still pending; required for Swiss and C permit holders, depends on the permit for refugees) |
| International student (other permits) | Only after completing at least one year at EPFL and passing the first-year cycle | Difficult financial situation and an unexpected and sudden change in your social, family or financial situation, or in that of the people who support you |
Last resort: EPFL calls this the principle of subsidiarity. The social scholarship comes after everything else: parents' contributions, cantonal or state grants, loans and loan offers, wages, pensions. If a cantonal grant is awarded later, you must repay the EPFL scholarship (no double funding). A loan offered by a cantonal grant office counts in the calculation even if you refuse it.
Amount and duration: set case by case from your and your family's situation, up to CHF 2,600 per month. Awarded per academic year for 1 or 2 semesters (5 or 10 months). You must re-apply each year with a full file. A Social Commission (EPFL staff, teachers and a student representative) decides; it meets 5 or 6 times a year.
Points from EPFL's FAQ worth knowing:
- Turning 25 does not make you financially independent: your parents' income is still taken into account until you are independent under grant law.
- A parent retiring at the normal age, or a sibling starting university, does not count as an unexpected change.
- The CMS (Cours de mathématiques spéciales) does not count as a year of study for international students.
- A student job is compatible with the scholarship (EPFL encourages it), but your salary is counted. Report any change in your situation.
- Extra costs of an exchange, internship or Master's project abroad are a personal choice and are not a reason to award a scholarship.
Deadlines for 2026-27 (from EPFL's page)
| Type of request | Deadline | Decision (approx.) | Payment (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New or renewal, spring semester 2027 | 1 December 2026 | End of February 2027 | Beginning of March 2027 |
| New or renewal, spring semester 2027 | 15 February 2027 | Beginning of April 2027 | Beginning of April 2027 |
The 2026-27 autumn deadlines (1 May, 15 July and 15 September 2026) have passed. EPFL advises not to wait for the deadline: preparing documents takes time and more may be requested.
If your money problem is only the tuition increase (see below), EPFL says you must apply for the transitional allowance instead; a social scholarship application would be refused.
Contact: bourses@epfl.ch
Sources: EPFL, Social scholarship · EPFL, FAQ social scholarships · EPFL, Scholarships overview
Financial emergency support
- What: one-time financial help for exceptional and unforeseen hardship that suddenly and temporarily puts your studies at risk. It covers essential and urgent expenses.
- Last resort: only after other funding or payment deferral arrangements have been explored.
- Amount: at most CHF 2,500 over the whole of your CMS, Bachelor's and Master's studies.
- How: first book an appointment with the Social consultation. If your situation fits, you will be invited to submit a formal application with the form and supporting documents.
Source: EPFL, Financial emergency support
Transitional allowance (tuition increase from Bachelor's to Master's)
Since autumn 2025, the tuition part of the semester fee is tripled for foreign students who moved to Switzerland to study. The transitional allowance helps students who did not plan for this:
- Who: students who completed their Bachelor's at EPFL, are subject to the higher fee when moving to an EPFL Master's, and are in financial difficulty (assessed on your and your family's situation).
- Amount: CHF 1,460 per semester (the size of the increase), for 3 semesters (90-credit Master's) or 4 semesters (120-credit Master's). No need to re-apply for the second year.
- Payment: you pay the normal fee first; the allowance follows once registration is validated (autumn semester from November, spring semester from April). It is paid only into a personal Swiss bank or postal account; EPFL says Revolut accounts are not accepted.
- Deadlines 2026-27: 30 November 2026 (for the autumn 2026 semester) and 15 April 2027 (spring 2027). Decisions take at least 3 weeks.
- Contact: allocation@epfl.ch
Source: EPFL, Transitional allowance / tripling of tuition fees
Other EPFL-listed funds
EPFL's scholarships page also lists a scholarship for study trips recommended by your section (not for exchange students) and several private foundations, some managed by EPFL with the same criteria as the social scholarship:
| Fund | For whom (summary of EPFL's page) |
|---|---|
| Hans Wilsdorf Foundation | Students living in the canton of Geneva (international students after one successful year at EPFL) |
| Professor Charles Rapin scholarships | Master's students, among others from developing countries, after a successful first year at EPFL |
| Orlando Lauti Foundation | Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Systems students after one successful year; priority to Swiss or Italian nationals |
| Fondation Philanthropique des Français de Suisse | French nationals resident in Switzerland with a student permit (CMS, BA1-2, or after an EPFL social scholarship refusal); apply any time |
| Charles-Edouard Guillaume Foundation | Microengineering students; deadline 30 September each year |
| Hasler Foundation | Above-average students who are permanent residents of Switzerland, only if state grants are not available |
Source: EPFL, Scholarships
Merit-based: Master Excellence Fellowships
- Amount: CHF 10,000 per semester, up to 4 semesters. Tuition and rent remain your responsibility. External fellows also get a student-residence room reservation.
- Who: anyone applying to an EPFL Master's. People who already hold a Master's or are enrolled in an EPFL Master's are not eligible.
- How and when:
- Bachelor's from a university abroad, or EPFL students changing field: tick the fellowship box in the Master's online application; the application must be paid and validated by 15 December. EPFL students changing field also need two recommendation letters by 31 January.
- EPFL Bachelor's students continuing in the same field: apply to the section with a copy to master.fellowship@epfl.ch by 31 January (application and letters).
- Results: late March. Renewal for year 2 needs a weighted average of at least 5.0 and at least 50 credits in the first Master's year, with no exceptions.
- Paid into a Swiss bank or postal account. Cannot be combined with other substantial scholarships; all scholarships must be declared to EPFL.
Source: EPFL, Master Excellence Fellowships, Application and deadlines
Vaud cantonal study grants and loans (OCBE)
The Office cantonal des bourses d'études et d'apprentissage (OCBE) pays grants (bourses) and, in some cases, loans (prêts) when your own and your parents' resources are not enough.
Who is eligible
Vaud's study-aid law (LAEF, art. 8) grants aid, if your relevant domicile (domicile déterminant) is in Vaud, to:
- Swiss citizens;
- EU/EFTA nationals (and nationals of states with an agreement with Switzerland) insofar as they are treated like Swiss citizens for study grants;
- C permit holders;
- B permit holders domiciled in Switzerland for at least 5 years;
- recognised refugees and stateless persons;
- provisionally admitted persons under conditions.
Relevant domicile is normally your parents' domicile. OCBE also lists adults who have lived in Vaud for at least 2 years and earned a living there after a first vocational qualification, and some refugee cases.
The key limit for international students: the law states that people living in Vaud exclusively for training are not entitled to state aid (LAEF art. 8 para. 2). If your parents live abroad and you came to Vaud to study, you will in practice not qualify. OCBE says that if you meet none of the domicile criteria but study in Vaud, you can still file a request, and aid may be granted under certain specific conditions (which conditions: To verify, not detailed on vd.ch). Its short online questionnaire gives a non-binding first answer.
Deadlines and payment
- You can apply at any time. For a grant covering the whole academic year at EPFL, apply by 30 September. Applying later gives aid from the first day of the following month; applying less than 3 months before the end of the year gives nothing for that year. EPFL notes that Vaud applications opened on 1 April 2026 for 2026-27.
- Re-apply every year. Total aid is limited to 10 years of post-compulsory education, and to the length of the programme plus two semesters.
- Grants are usually paid in two parts: two-thirds about 15 days after the first semester starts and one-third after the second. EPFL students must send an attestation of studies each semester (EPFL is not on OCBE's list of schools that send it directly).
- Grades do not affect eligibility.
What is counted
OCBE uses flat-rate amounts, not your actual costs: housing and living costs, health insurance, medical and dental costs, taxes, and training costs (enrolment, registration and exam fees, materials, transport, lunches away from home). Your resources include wages, health-insurance premium subsidies, other aid and assets, and usually your parents' income. A separate student room is counted only in specific cases (more than 1 hour 30 each way from the parents' home by public transport, or a schedule that requires it), and then at most CHF 500 per month.
Financially independent under Vaud grant law means all three: adult, a first vocational qualification, and 24 consecutive months of work with at least CHF 21,720 annual income while living in Vaud (other paths exist without a qualification).
Repayment
- Grants are not repaid if you complete your training. If you stop during the year, OCBE asks for the months not studied back; abandoning without good reason triggers repayment of training costs.
- Loans must be repaid within 5 years after your studies end or stop; after that, 5% late interest per year applies on the balance. Monthly instalments are at least CHF 100.
Contact
OCBE, Route des Plaines-du-Loup 1, 1014 Lausanne. Phone 021 316 33 70 (Monday to Thursday 08:30 to 12:30). Counter without appointment: Monday 08:30 to 16:00; Tuesday 13:00 to 16:00; Wednesday to Friday 08:30 to 11:45 and 13:00 to 16:00. Email info.bourses@vd.ch.
Questions about a grant decision? Jet Service (CSP Vaud) gives free, confidential consultations to people aged 16 to 25 and anyone in training, including on contesting a grant decision: see Free and low-cost legal advice.
Students whose parents live in another canton apply to that canton's grant office. Swiss students living abroad apply to their canton of origin and to educationsuisse (EPFL).
Sources: État de Vaud, OCBE main information · État de Vaud, OCBE FAQ · État de Vaud, Conditions for a grant or loan · Vaud law LAEF, BLV 416.11 · LAEF as adopted on 1 July 2014, art. 8 (PDF, vd.ch) · EPFL, Scholarships
Tuition fees: what can and cannot be waived
| Item per semester (EPFL) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total invoice | CHF 780, or CHF 2,240 for foreign students who moved to Switzerland to study (from autumn 2025) |
| of which tuition fee | CHF 730, or CHF 2,190 (tripled) |
| AGEPoly (student association) membership | CHF 25, refundable on request from AGEPoly if you do not want to be a member |
| Sports facilities contribution | CHF 16 |
| Social fund contribution | CHF 9 |
- EPFL says the other fees are compulsory and cannot be waived or refunded. EPFL's fees page lists no need-based tuition waiver; financial help goes through the scholarships above.
- Exemptions EPFL does list: a semester with no credited study work (leave of absence, or an internship credited with the Master's project) costs CHF 50 only; exchange students are exempt from EPFL fees.
- Not subject to the tripling: Swiss nationals, and foreign residents who can prove they lived in Switzerland before starting at EPFL for work, family reunification (living with parents) or protection (refugees). Transitional rules apply to some students who started before autumn 2025.
- Vaud grants (if you qualify) count tuition as a training cost.
Source: EPFL, Tuition fee and other fees
How a grant affects other bills
- Residence tax (taxe de séjour): the intercommunal regulation used by Lausanne, Ecublens, Renens, Chavannes-près-Renens, St-Sulpice and other communes charges CHF 37 per person per month for long stays in a flat, studio or room. Its art. 10 exempts holders of a Swiss or foreign study grant, and also people taxed at source. A landlord who exempts you without checking does so at their own risk, so expect to show your grant attestation. EPFL says to request the exemption from your commune with your scholarship attestation or notification, and that granting it is not guaranteed and depends on each commune (EPFL, Residence permit). Full explanation: Residence tax vs income tax.
- Income tax: the residence-tax exemption does not settle income-tax questions. If you file a Vaud tax return, report it in the return's section for tax-exempt income (VaudTax: "Informations complémentaires", then "Autres revenus exonérés"; paper return: item 4 on page 4): it is not taxed as income if there is no service in return and the holder is in need. Vaud's tax page for young people says a grant must be declared, its income-tax page lists such grants as income not to be declared as income, and ACI's filing instructions explain both: not taxable, but must be reported (État de Vaud, Les impôts pour les jeunes · État de Vaud, Impôt sur le revenu · ACI, Instructions générales 2025, p. 56 (PDF)). The legal basis is the exemption of subsidies from public or private funds (subsides provenant de fonds publics ou privés): federal law LIFD art. 24 let. d and Vaud law LI art. 28 para. 1 let. e. Whether you must file a Vaud return at all as an international student depends on your tax domicile: see Student tax and Residence tax vs income tax. Whether a merit-based award such as the Excellence Fellowship meets the "in need" condition: To verify with the cantonal tax office (ACI, 021 316 00 00). If you work and are taxed at source, see Tax at source in Vaud.
- Health-insurance premium subsidy: OCBE counts a premium subsidy as one of your resources, so apply for the subsidy you are entitled to. Vaud law in principle excludes foreigners living alone here who had to prove sufficient financial means for their permit (most international students), except as a time-limited hardship case; ask OVAM about your case (LVLAMal art. 12 para. 3 and art. 13, BLV 832.01). See LAMal premium reduction in Vaud.
- Student job: compatible with EPFL scholarships, but wages reduce the amount. Work-permit limits for international students: Working while studying.
Sources: Règlement intercommunal sur la taxe de séjour, art. 9, 10 and 15 (PDF, Lausanne legal collection) · EPFL, Residence permit (residence tax) · État de Vaud, Les impôts pour les jeunes · LIFD art. 24 · EPFL, Financing your studies (budget) · État de Vaud, OCBE FAQ
Student parent? Family allowances are separate from grants: see Family allowances in Vaud for student parents.