Talk:List of institutions not listed as Accredited Swiss Higher Education Institutions according to HEdA*

What is this page supposed to be?

Some users are taking the valiant effort of trying to turn this page into an explainer for incoming foreign students. That is good and well but we should be careful not to overdo it.

For example, it is correct that a school not being accredited may pose visa issues. However, there are some schools - hotellery schools especially - that operate by design outside of the usual higher education system. To my knowledge - but I am not able to source this well - these schools have no problem with visas. Think Glion or Les Roches or César Ritz. Functionist (talk) 08:52, 6 June 2022 (UTC)

It was expressed that the page in the first iteration was written as a guide about For Profit business schools, ie private schools with no higher education accreditation. And what possible problems students need to pay attention when enlisting.

Now should someone want to improve, broaden the reach of the page with hotellery list and accreditation in higher education i would have nothing against it. Also someone is doing there best to temper with the article and false report the original form. ErrgoProxy (talk) 12:01, 6 June 2022 (UTC)

Unaccredited business schools

I want to be a bit careful with the wording. Some schools on this list such as [International Institute for Management Development] are very well regarded both domestically and internationally and are opting to not go for Swiss accreditation for some reason. However, it is very hard to find references and sourcing for this. I'm not sure whether it would be smart to entirely exclude privately triple accredited schools from this list, or split the list in two? essentially, IMD and similar schools have a place in this world and should not be on the same list as diploma mills. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Functionist (talk • contribs) 08:59, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

I agree with this. So we have two options, if it's alright with you. Ether put a special note for IMD on the List and bellow as i have currently placed it (up for you to make edits), or remove any triple accreditation holder from the list that is only awarding MBD degrees?

I do not want the article to lose its format cause of one Institution. ErrgoProxy (talk) 10:56, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

Yeah I'm agnostic on which one is better. Maybe removey but a note is more transparent. Functionist (talk) 22:02, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

the "Legality concerns" paragraph

I have taken the liberty of purely and simply removing this paragraph so as to discuss it here, if needed. This paragraph is incorrect as such.

==Legality concerns== Issuing or receiving qualifications is legal, while passing it off as an accredited one for personal gain is a crime in many jurisdictions. These institutions could also be guilty of fraud if they mislead customers into believing that the qualifications they issue are accredited or recognized, or make false claims that they will lead to career advancement, and accept money on the basis of these claims. Potential students can not apply for Visa when enlisted in programs offered by uHEI's. The set rules can be read on the Ministries webpage.2 These institutions are not granted any financial aid or scholarship; these can only be granted by the Ministry. 3 4

The paragraph about 'passing it off as an accredited one' needs to be addressed, as such it seems very misleading. Visas and scholarships do not work lik that in Switzerland, and the sources do not address this issue at all. PierreLsn (talk) 16:56, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

The two links clearly describe the relation visa and scholarship have from the two SBFI webpages, so i do not see any issues here, it states that the institutions need to be Swiss Universities and recognised by Switzerlands Government to award official funding when it comes to these situations. Untill you provide a source for your different theory i do not see any point in removing it.

I think you should send an email to people inside SBFI so you also get the up to date information. ErrgoProxy (talk) 17:15, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Please see my note in the section above, re.Functionist mention about visas or authorisation to use a title that isn't a state-accredited one. thanks! PierreLsn (talk) 17:48, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

The warning on unaccredited titles would go for non Swiss résidents as there is no such law in most or all cantons but there may be conséquences abroad. Functionist (talk) 22:10, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean Functionist and how exactly you propose to warn about each title (for example a workshop in a local accounting school can provide a certificate, which in effect is a degree, and which in effect you are entitled to display wherever you want - nothing legal/illegal here). All this "Legality concerns" paragraph is original research. PierreLsn (talk) 22:40, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Using an academic title (bachelor, master, PhD/Dr) from most of the schools on this list would be a crime in Germany: https://www.klugo.de/blog/den-dr-legal-kaufen - see also https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missbrauch_von_Titeln,_Berufsbezeichnungen_und_Abzeichen

The same goes for many countries. The UK comes to mind. Functionist (talk) 10:58, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

Functionist I'm sorry but driving anywhere at 200mph is a serious crime in many countries, but is authorized on certain motorways in Germany. Buying and smoking weed is a serious crime in many countries - but look at US or NL. Anyway, to go back to the point, this is what Enric-Naric says: "No two education systems are alike. This is why there are different structures, typology of institutions, qualifications and recognition procedures in each country: one element (i.e. qualification, institution, structure) that exists in an educational system of one country may not exist in another. Furthermore, a qualification or an institution may have similar names, but have a different meaning and nature within different national higher education systems. As a consequence, it is essential to know the unique elements of different educational systems in order to be able to evaluate a foreign qualification or to understand the level and the nature of a study programme abroad.". That's why it would be good to have sources for such claims. This being said, that paragraph has been removed. PierreLsn (talk) 14:45, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

References

A note about visas and accreditations in Switzerland

Hello, I have been forwarded this page and find it very interesting but would like to offer a slightly nuanced input in regards to Switzerland.

First, about visas: As you say, some schools have no issues with visas. This is because in 2006, "Economie suisse", the "Fédération suisse des écoles privées" (FSEP in Bern), Hotelleriesuisse (Berne) and the "Fondation pour la promotion de la pédagogie Rudolf Steiner en Suisse" (Zurich) created the « Registre des écoles privées en Suisse » : https://www.swissprivateschoolregister.com/ One of the reasons of this creation was to offer a platform for authorities to emit visas. Every school having passed the due diligence is listed and is recognised in Switzerland for visa allocation. Therefore, visas in Switzerland is not related to awarding (or not) a state-accredited/state-recognised degree.

Second, about awarding a state-accredited degree: As you correctly put, the only institutions who can deliver state-accredited/state-recognised degrees in Switzerland are listed by https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/ . You will notice that there is only 1 private school (Franklin) listed ( https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/topics/studying/recognised-or-accredited-swiss-higher-education-institutions ) all the others are public universities or universities of applied sciences. Therefore, as you put very correctly for IMD who has only private accreditations, not delivering a state-accredited degree doesn't mean in Switzerland that the institution/the programs are not accredited, nor that the program is not reputable.

and just learnt how to sign PierreLsn (talk) 16:51, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for your contribution. The part about Visa i think there is some misunderstanding. It was not about "some" schools but the point was that the uHEI from the list can not provide scholarship and funding from the Government as they are not recognised by them. Establishing there very own organization is a different thing, and can be listed on the page if formated correctly.

There was also no claim how Visa is related or not about accreditation, the only thing was that it was not funded by the Government and it will be again listed. Maybe with better wording.

The point with IMD is not only that it holds the triple accreditation, but the very fact they only stick to MBA degrees in general for which a lot of Minisrties throughout the ENIC-Naric network do have a hard time to where'as put it. While rest of the list awards undergradute,graduate,postgraduet private degrees which they are not correctly listing on there website.

The table looks great but there is also a small misunderstanding, i do think the "Swiss University Accreditation" would be better to be called AAQ or Swiss Council accreditation. To distingsh the Institutional accreditation. These Institutions for a good reason can not hold the word University in their name. ErrgoProxy (talk) 17:05, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. Let me be more specific, apologies. So as mentioned by Functionist, let's take Glion or Les Roches or César Ritz as examples.

These institutions are part of the uHEI and have no problem obtaining a visa, see my above explanation.

These institutions do have accreditations (albeit not State-Accreditation from Switzerland), and obviously "listing them as an education" is authorised.

Would you agree? - if yes, please amend?

thanks! PierreLsn (talk) 17:44, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Agree, but as i expressed with Functionist the page then should be separated in two, should he wish to follow up on adding and editing out the with hotellery list i would have no problem with this.

It seems the problem is a lot of conflict on the forum of the page is related with this issue.

Same as with the IMD. That can be solved by a special note, or removing it simply. ErrgoProxy (talk) 17:52, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Apologies, but I have trouble understanding. Are you suggesting that because the schools mentionned by Functionist are hospitality schools, they would be under a different visa treatment? or because because they are hospitality schools, you would be "allowed" to use them on your CV? ... Please do consider that a non State-Accredited school (hint:IMD) can obtain Visas and does allow listing of their curriculums on a CV, and please update the artice? thanks!! PierreLsn (talk) 17:58, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

I started to caught a glimpse that we are having some serious misunderstanding xD in our communication lets try again :)

"Are you suggesting that because the schools mentionned by Functionist are hospitality schools, they would be under a different visa treatment?"

The thing is i am not so versed in a difference between private hospitality schools and private business schools, hence i made a list including only business schools, too late did i saw i have Mone and Imi listed. So what i am saying is that a second list should be made to cover hospitality schools and one for business schools. Since i am seeing a lot of conflict in the form for the article (visa, scholarship for example), i would have nothing against editing and adding hospitality schools on the list. But Functionist never came back to say anything about it. He is more then welcome to add them, as i am not an expert on Hospitality schools.

And yes, the degrees by hospitality schools from what i personally know can be used under education in your CV, but what i am saying is that private business schools (lets say Geneva Business school) private degrees can not be used officially in your CV, that is not allowed. I hope we clear this misunderstanding.

"(hint:IMD) can obtain Visas and does allow listing of their curriculums on a CV"

Il repeat again, the wording in the past iteration should say that the scholarship and visa are not granted and funded by State, as it is with public Institutions in Switzerland. As the SBFI pages i had as source expressed. For business school case, so there is no confusion that i mean private hospitality schools. ErrgoProxy (talk) 18:35, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your precisions. As to hospitality schools versus business schools, I personally do not see any issue having both in your list - actually some hospitality schools market themselves as business hospitality schools, and all are under the same Swiss company (Ltd/Inc) legislation, so improving your list with both seems a great step.

As to the Visa question or the usage of a private degree in a CV, unfortunately that is absolutely incorrect. The sources you are using are specifically referring to OAQ/state-accredited degrees (and some sources are just wrong/not active!).

Not only can private schools obtain visas, but it is obvious you can mention you private school degree in your CV. Actually, I am allowed to mention any degree in my CV, even if it is a 2-days workshop degree!

But I do not want to revert (again) your edits like that, so I will source the material and then we can agree on updating the content in an encyclopedic manner.

Cheers PierreLsn (talk) 19:16, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Regarding visas; it would be a grand idea to expand with the info about the registry and add a note to schools on said list. That would also he well sourced. In writing this, please note that the registry isn't accredition but some weird in between.

Regarding Hotel schools, neither the public nor the private ones are accredited. Maybe a note is needed but I find it hard to find a source. In principle they aren't regulated as higher education but professional higher education under a different law from uHEI Functionist (talk) 22:09, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Thank-you for your inputs Functionist. As of now, I do not feel the need to search for each visa capability for each school. The organisation https://www.swissprivateschoolregister.com/?id=13 provides visa capabilities to its members, same as https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/ does. Therefore I will proceed in removing the notion that visas cannot be provided to students who would not attend an OAQ-accredited university.

Regarding business / hotel schools, be they public or private, I beg to differ. If you check https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/ you will see multiple business/hospitality schools accredited by OAQ as Universities of Applied sciences - none the less that the world famous EHL in Lausanne, which delivers a state-accredited HES diploma.

Therefore, this page is clearly problematic in Switzerand, where an institution can be accredited - even more, its programs can be - without being a University (or University of applied science). Many business and hotel schools are accredited, offer accredited programs, are recognised, are reputable, but are simply not Universities.

My 2 cents is that this page should not be named List of unaccredited higher education institutions in Switzerland but something like List of education institutions not accredited as Universities in Switzerland. My opinion is that this page will slowly have tens or hundreds of institutions, and I'm not sure of its use.

Do note that as per source, the only terminology that is protected is the one of 'University'. Actually the exact wording as per source is "Accredited Swiss Higher Education Institutions according to the Higher Education Funding and Coordination Act (HEdA)" - not being a University does not mean you have no accreditation, does not mean you have no reputation, does not mean you cannot transfer, or display your degrees, or be recognised in any way. It may or it may not. There are multiple business schools (and obviously IMD is a case in point) that are very happy not being a University, but cannot be negatively targeted because of that.

Cheers, PierreLsn (talk) 22:26, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

a) I'll add a reference to the registry as that's the relevant info - schools on the registry are eligible for visas, thoes not on it are likely not.

b) no, you see one business school whihc has been duly accredited (I cannot source this, but others failed I hear). Hotel schools are generally recognized through the professional education department, not the higher education department.

c) Perhaps it would be good to have an "accreditation in Switzerland" article rather than this list. Right now it's kinda both.

d) University and similar titles are protected, yes. HOwever, as the article notes, accreditation may be important for foreign students in some ways.

e) IMD is a special case (as are hotel schools). Functionist (talk) 11:02, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

Functionist, sorry about delay... I'll respond as per your bullet points:

a) I'll add a reference to the registry as that's the relevant info - schools on the registry are eligible for visas, thoes not on it are likely not.

Agreed as per last section addressing that.

b) no, you see one business school whihc has been duly accredited (I cannot source this, but others failed I hear). Hotel schools are generally recognized through the professional education department, not the higher education department.

Please source the fact that hotel schools (or any other further education schools) are "generally recognized differently". I do not believe it makes any difference. There are Hotel schools accredited as Swiss Higher Education Institutions according to HEdA. Some business schools are both business and hotel management. Some hotel schools are both hotel and business. Unless someone can point to a rule/regulation differentiating institutions based on their exact field (hotel, business, tourism, theology, technology, human sciences, music, etc..) ?

c) Perhaps it would be good to have an "accreditation in Switzerland" article rather than this list. Right now it's kinda both.

Agreed, but anyway the content that is unsourced needs to be addressed.

d) University and similar titles are protected, yes. HOwever, as the article notes, accreditation may be important for foreign students in some ways.

Not sure what that implies.

e) IMD is a special case (as are hotel schools).

Why is IMD is a special case? Why are hotel schools special cases? The article is about "higher education institutions that not accredited as Swiss Higher Education Institutions according to HEdA". As per article description,these institutions are to be listed. Unless rules/regulations/sources say differently?

PierreLsn (talk) 14:34, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

e) it's hard to find sources in English. See e.g. https://www.hfthun.ch/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2_2015_Salz_Pfeffer_Hotelfachschulen.pdf - Swiss hotel schools are professional education, rather than higher education, and hence they are recognized (to be careful, afaik the word accreditation is not used) as a "höhere Fachschule", a professional college. Hotel schools mostly serving foreign students on the other hand exist in a legal loophole; they aren't really banned from handing out academic degrees in most cantons but they are also not providing... hmm, swiss degrees?

As for IMD, it posesses triple accreditation for business schools, but no Swiss accreditation. That's a special case that shoudl at least be noted.

b) See the mentions of Hotelfachschulen in https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/dam/sbfi/de/dokumente/2021/11/zwischenbericht-hbb.pdf.download.pdf/2021-11-15_Zwischenbericht_Pos%20HF_Spitzentreffen%20BB_DE.pdf as well as which schools give out the advanced federal diplomas: https://www.becc.admin.ch/becc/public/bvz/beruf/show/101 (rather than Bachelors). Also note that except EHL, such schools serving the swiss market don't give out bachelors on their own; if they do they do so with an accredited college, e.g. https://info.shl.ch/hospitality_bachelor_switzerland/?utm_term=%2Bhospitality%20%2Bmanagement&utm_campaign=SHL_GSN_EN_Prio1_Switzerland_Generic&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=2637972513&hsa_cam=9250243174&hsa_grp=97893158110&hsa_ad=588636914351&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-301030657116&hsa_kw=%2Bhospitality%20%2Bmanagement&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8amWBhCYARIsADqZJoUkYMRXByVvxx-REn7oE1nCA7yE79iNvv3Wt2a-8Z-bHZrv3thIg_gaAg4MEALw_wcB Functionist (talk) 18:48, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

e) It's okay, German works too ;o) I get where you're coming from, especially with that op-ed, but unfortunately all this is very much unsourced: "legal loophole"? "professional education or higher education"? "aren't really banned in most cantons"? - all that would need clarification with sources.

IMD was duly noted, but it serves as a clear reminder (as would Glion Institute of Higher Education for example) that not being in the Accredited Swiss Higher Education Institutions according to HEdA* list means just that: you're not a swiss "university" (or swiss "university of applied sciences", or swiss "universities of teacher education"). It doesn't mean 'per se' that the institution, the programs or the degrees are unrecognized, undervalued, unauthorized, or even unaccredited. Such an approach would be unfair and incorrect.

b) Seen and understood. Do note the term used in the bcc.admin.ch source: Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Hospitality Management. The words Higher Education are used for a cursus that is accredited but not as a University cursus since it's a Federal Diploma. Hence the requirement of being precise, even if it's a bit gruesome.

On the subject of giving out bachelors "on their own", no, it's actually the contrary. Many many schools deliver bachelors (and masters) "on their own". Glion does gives out Bachelors and Masters, so does Les Roches (Bachelors and Masters). As of today, the words 'bachelor' and 'master' are not protected in Switzerland, and therefore you have (as a lateral example) design schools and communication schools delivering them. The Bibelschule Beatenberg delivers a Bachelor in Theology but not as a University. Again, those institutions/programs/degrees are recognized, valued, authorized, and can be accredited. But for sure, they are not swiss university curriculums. Which doesn't mean they are all bad - look at IMD! Their value are in their industry recognition, and can be submitted to Credential Evaluators for academic transfers - sometimes it'll work, sometimes not. PierreLsn (talk) 19:31, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

_

References

Cf. Explanation > using a title

I am creating a specific section so this is clear.

I removed the following:

Within Switzerland, operating an unaccredited institution granting private degrees is not prohibited by federal law. However, it it is not allowed to be put in official use (example listing it as education in CV) and cantonal laws further explain this. 9 12

The source of the PDF document refers to protected titles. It is a research paper, not a law. The second link is 404. Do not put this original research back up before discussing! thanks :) PierreLsn (talk) 23:37, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

The two respected links covered degree,title, qualification. The UGW law in Switzerland clearly states what can be listed, and there is a link for fedlex that is covering this issues, there was no need to remove or make changes as you did.

Also i would like to note reporting my account for abuse was not one bit oke from you. You removed official links and sources from the Government in Swiss about these facts, without providing any proof on your part on why or where are you getting your information as a valid source. You made big changes to the website and when i asked you to stop and explain your sources, you did not such thing, and explained your self "those do not apply to hostipitality or hotelier schools" but yet again with no valid souce (yes i agree, and i even said in the post, those do not apply for hotelier and hospitality) but they do apply for Higher education schools for these private degrees these schools are able to provide. But you moved on your rampart and removed even those links, citating how they do not apply universally, when it clearly states in the PDF file the Government and 18/26 Cantons abide by those. ErrgoProxy (talk) 15:36, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

_

References

Legality concerns > Visa & co

Again, to be specific. I removed:

Potential students can not apply for Visa when enlisted in programs offered by uHEI's. The set rules can be read on the Ministries webpage.2 These institutions are not granted any financial aid or scholarship; these can only be granted by the Ministry. 3 4

How this is Legality concerns i'm not sure, but whatever, this is WP:OR. Before reinstating please source clearly where it is stated that only a University can request a visa issuance (how do language schools do??????). thanks! 213.55.225.189 (talk) 23:59, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

_ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.55.225.189 (talk) 23:59, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

as said elsewhere, I think it would be a great idea to include wording about which schools are eligble for visas (those on the private school registry) Functionist (talk) 10:58, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

Functionist - yes, the visa section could include that, agreed. PierreLsn (talk) 14:19, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

Functionist - Actually, I'm reading the sources of the section Scholarship and visa and those sources do not support what is written. Nowhere can I find an indication of "The Swiss Government does not provide any official support for scholarship programs and granting visas for uHEI". Actually, the procedures seem similar, would you wish to study in a University or in a higher education institution, be it a university or not, public or private. Where does this assumption come from? - as for Scholarships, the wording of the section is muddled, but the source only addresses specific scholarships, nowhere does it say anything along the lines of These scholarships are not granted by the Swiss Ministry of education and are in no part of their own educational systems, visa included.. I would like inputs from contributors? ( ErrgoProxy SunDawn DGG Eatingsnowballs Curb Safe Charmer ). Thanks. PierreLsn (talk) 16:08, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

Yes that is badly sourced. What it should say is something like

- Only those on the registry which you mentioned elsewhere appear to be eligible for visas

- Some or all unaccredited institutions may not be eligible for financial aid.

See e.g. the way the Canton of Bern puts it in art. 8 of the financial aid law: https://www.belex.sites.be.ch/app/de/texts_of_law/438.31 - only schools with adequate quality assurance systems (=those accredited, in HEI) which lead to a recognized degree Functionist (talk) 19:01, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

Hi Functionist, — Preceding unsigned comment added by PierreLsn (talk • contribs) 19:51, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

We agree it's badly sourced, but:

a) I cannot find any source saying 'only the ones mentioned' (in swissuniversities or swissprivateschoolregister.com) are eligible for Visas. I think until the formal admin.ch page is updated with a clear position, we should be more cautious (I myself know that language schools obtain visas, for example).

b) The way Canton Bern puts it does work, thanks for the reference - but no they do not refer to "those accredited in HEI". They are much, much more global. All the schools with an eduQua certification will be included for example, see Art.8/al.1/b), as long as they deliver a diploma which is recognized (i.e. a Diploma, a Bachelor, a Master, etc..). Note they do not once use the word 'accreditation/accredited'.

-- google translation https://www.belex.sites.be.ch/app/fr/texts_of_law/438.31

Art. 8 Recognized training institutions

1 Are recognized training institutions

a public educational establishments in Switzerland and abroad;

b private training establishments in Switzerland and abroad, provided that they can demonstrate an adequate quality assurance program;

c private companies in Switzerland which are authorized to train apprentices.

2 Training establishments are only recognized if they issue a diploma recognized by the canton, by the Confederation or by a foreign State.

3 On the proposal of the Department of Public Instruction and Culture, the Executive Council may recognize other training establishments, provided that they can justify an equivalent quality of training. *

-- PierreLsn (talk) 19:51, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

References

Background article / source

https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/13238587-a-geneve-des-universites-privees-vendent-tres-cher-des-titres-pas-reconnus-en-suisse.html

This came out the other day, may be of high interest for editors of this page Functionist (talk) 15:20, 18 July 2022 (UTC)