You must have been selected by your home university, which has to be a partner institution of EPFL.
We expect that you register for a minimum of 20 ECTS credits (European Credits Transfer System) per semester. The study plan must contain a majority of courses from the section in which you have been nominated. One French course of 3 ECTS during the semester can count towards the 20 ECTS.
An exchange to attend courses at EPFL is authorized for one semester or a full academic year. The exchange cannot exceed two semesters.
It is recommended to have good command of French and/or English (level B2). Bachelor classes are taught in French and to some extent in English. The offer varies from one section to another. Master courses are mainly taught in English.
No language certificate is required for an exchange at EPFL. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have sufficient knowledge of French and/or English to follow the courses.
Courses and projects here, as well as limited places courses are not open to exchange students in 2024-25 (SHS courses and 1st year subjects excepted).
Access to courses in Management of Technology (MTE) and Financial Engineering (FE) is also limited for exchange students and subject to special conditions. To find out more, please visit the Studies page in this section, under “restricted courses”.
You are authorized to take French classes only. EPFL offers 2-weeks intensive French courses in summer and winter before the begining of the semester. These courses enable new students to strengthen their French knowledge and facilitate their integration. However, it does not grant any ECTS.
Access to French courses during the semesters cannot be guaranteed to exchange students. Credits obtained for French courses taken during the semester do not appear in the official transcript of records. An attestation mentioning the language course credits can be requested at the Language Center.
Exams take place on specific dates. Extramural exams can be requested, but only under certain conditions. This request must be officialized via this form.
Furthermore, EPFL does not organize remedial examinations. In case of a failed exam or absence during an exam, please contact your home university which is in charge of the validation of your credits.
As exchange students you must observe the same rules as regular EPFL students in regard to registration for lectures, exams, use of computers, etc…
Exchange students from partner universities are exempted from paying the tuition fees at EPFL.