EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)

EPFL at a glance

EPFL sits on a single lakeside campus at Écublens, just west of Lausanne. Its roots go back to the École spéciale de Lausanne, a private engineering school founded in 1853; it became a federal institute on 1 January 1969 and now operates alongside ETH Zurich under the same federal umbrella. Programs focus on engineering, computer and communication sciences, life sciences, basic sciences, architecture and environmental engineering.

Life on campus is compact: teaching buildings and the library are close together on one site. EPFL limits first-year intake to about 3,000 students from 2025, so places for direct admission are ranked.

Teaching language

EPFL requires French at level B2 for its bachelor programs and strongly recommends C1. Foreign applicants who did not study French in upper secondary school have to prove their level when they apply. Later years include more courses in English, and master programs are largely in English, but the first year is a French-language experience. A student from Quebec, New Brunswick or a French immersion stream has a real advantage here.

Admission routes for North American students

EPFL publishes three main routes: direct admission for some European and IB certificates, the Cours de mathématiques spéciales (CMS), and the entrance examination. The CMS is a foundation year in mathematics and physics; applicants from countries outside the EU, EFTA and UK can be considered for it only if their certificate meets listed conditions, including at least 12 years of schooling and grades of at least 80 percent in mathematics, physics and overall. Applicants whose country is not on the CMS list can only apply through the entrance exam.

The swissuniversities country list for 2026/27 states that EPFL requires the US High School Diploma plus an entrance examination. The IB Diploma is assessed separately, with its own point thresholds, so a student taking the IB in Canada or the US should read that section of the EPFL criteria page. Canadian applicants should check their own country entry on the swissuniversities list and the EPFL CMS country document before deciding which route to prepare for. EPFL notes that registration for the entrance exam has been restricted, so read the exam page early.

Application steps and deadlines

1. Read the admission criteria page and decide which route applies: direct, CMS or entrance exam.
2. Submit the online form between mid-November and 30 April, and pay the fee (CHF 150 for a foreign certificate). Late applications are accepted only in very specific cases.
3. Send the second-stage documents by 10 July, or by 30 September for certificates issued after 10 July.
4. If you are directed to the entrance exam, register on the exam page and prepare for each subject on the published syllabus.

The deadlines above are taken from the EPFL how-to-apply page as checked in October 2026. They repeat each year, but confirm them before you apply.

Tuition

The standard bachelor tuition is CHF 730 per semester, with small compulsory charges on top (CHF 780 in total per semester). From the 2025 fall semester, foreign students who move to Switzerland to study pay CHF 2,190 in tuition per semester. EPFL bases this on nationality and prior residence, and lists exemptions for people already living in Switzerland for work, family reunification or protection. Living costs in Lausanne are high, so budget for housing, health insurance (mandatory in Switzerland) and food. Visa and residence permit rules are on the Swiss government and EPFL pages; read them directly.

Getting ready

The entrance exam and the CMS both test mathematics and physics hard. Work through physics mechanics and calculus readiness, and pair them with the university mechanics course. Our Switzerland guide compares EPFL with ETH and the cantonal universities.