Zurich the most popular place for students from Zug to study

Information provided by the Cantonal Office of Statistics showed that, among other things, Zurich was the most popular place to study for school-leavers from Zug.

It was mentioned how some 3,000 students from Zug are currently studying at universities, universities of applied sciences or teacher-training colleges across the country, with most of them, 62.6 per cent of them, heading to institutions in Zurich, 39 per cent of all students from Zug heading to the University of Zurich, with 23 per cent enrolling at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, also in Zurich (photograph).

St Gallen is the next location of choice at 9.3 per cent, followed by Freiburg (7.5 per cent) and Bern (6.6 per cent). Six per cent went on to study in Lucerne, 4.1 per cent in Basel and 3.9 per cent in other places.

As to the subjects studied, it was found that school-leavers from Zug opted for courses in economics and law, much more so than those from other areas in Switzerland. For example, it was revealed that, while 20 per cent of all students from Zug went on to take a bachelor’s or master’s degree in economics between 1990 and 2015, only 17 per cent of students from other parts of Switzerland did.

Furthermore, while 15 per cent of Zug school leavers embarked on courses in law, only 12 per cent of students from other parts of Switzerland did so.

Technical science subjects were also more popular among school leavers from Zug than elsewhere, and this was confirmed by Lukas Fürrer, the general secretary to the Cantonal Department of Education. It was also shown through the financial contribution the canton makes to various educational institutions that the study of medicine was becoming more popular, in addition to what are known as the MINT subjects, namely mathematics, IT, natural sciences and technology.

Of those students from Zug embarking on tertiary education courses, most of them just under 26 per cent, opt for humanities subjects or the social sciences, whereas nationwide 32 per cent of students do.

It was also shown that students from Zug do not delay embarking on their courses for too long, with 90 per cent of those leaving with a Matura qualification starting a bachelor course within two years of leaving school. And after six years, 90 per cent of all students from Zug having a Matura qualification had completed a bachelor degree course.