Changing Degree and/or Study Program

Changing degree and/or study program requires you to submit a request via the student portal if you wish to do the following at UZH:

• Change your degree or study program(s) at Bachelor’s, Master’s, doctorate or teaching diploma level
• Move straight from a Bachelor’s to a Master's program, from a Master's program to doctoral studies, or to the Teaching Diploma for Upper Secondary Education program having completed your Master's degree.

An application is necessary if you wish to:

• apply for a second degree program in parallel with your first degree program (e.g. to study for a teaching diploma and a Master's degree at the same time)
• change to the first year of a Bachelor's program in medicine (human and dental medicine, veterinary medicine, or chiropractic medicine).

Please note the following important information:

• Not all degree and study programs can be changed for the Spring Semester. Find out in advance in the relevant program regulations or ask the advisory center for your faculty.

• Changes of degree and/or study programs are subject to a full new application assessment. The same admission requirements as a first-time application to UZH will apply.

• If applicable to you, please note the following information:
  Obstacles to admission
  Language requirements
  Registering for graduation for Bachelor's and Master's degrees
  Changing to a specialized Master's degree or study program
  Changing to doctoral studies
  Non-fulfillment of conditions and additional requirements for a Master's program

• Please note: A change of degree programs and/or study programs does not exempt the student from the obligation to take examinations for any booked modules, nor does it invalidate any upcoming deadlines (e.g. time limits in the assessment phase). The faculties reserve the right to decide differently on these matters.

If you would like to change your degree and/or your study program(s), please follow these steps:

1. Go to "My Requests and Invoices" on the student portal and submit a request to change your degree and/or study program before the relevant deadline (see "Periods" above). To do this, click the orange button marked "Create Request" at the bottom left of the screen. Then go to the dropdown menu at the upper right of the screen and select the type of request you would like to make (change of degree or study program). Fill-in the form and thereby, fully state your desired enrollment in the upcoming semester (faculty, degree program, major and minor study-program). Finally, submit your request by clicking the "Submit" button at the bottom right.
   You can see the status of your request at any time directly under "My Requests and Invoices." The status will be shown as "To be verified" for as long as your request is still being processed by the Student Administration Office.

2. If your request to change degree and/or study program is incomplete, you will receive a message to this effect from the Student Administration Office via the student portal. An e-mail will notify you of a new message, which can be found under "Documents" as part of your request. The status of the request will change to "Incomplete."

3. Upload the required documents as a PDF file in the request ("Documents" tab) and submit the request again by clicking on the "Resubmit" button (lower right-hand corner). Please do not use umlauts and special characters in the document names.

4. Once the change has been approved or rejected, you will receive a letter from the Student Administration Office, which can be accessed in the request under "Documents" (with notification by e-mail). The status of the request will change to "Approved" or "Rejected".
   Following approval of the change, the changed enrollment for the next semester will be displayed in "My Enrollment and Personal Data" in the student portal (navigate to the new semester).
   If the change is refused, you will remain enrolled in your current degree program and current study programs providing you are not subject to a definitive exclusion or ban.

5. If you transfer to a higher academic level, your Bachelor's or Master's degree must be received by 30 September at the latest for transfers as of the Fall Semester, and by 15 March at the latest for transfers as of the Spring Semester. If the Bachelor’s or Master's degree has not been received by the set deadline, the Student Administration Office will automatically allocate you back to your current degree program and current study programs. Please note the information on the Registering for graduation section.

In general, the semester fees do not change as a result of a change.

For this reason, you should pay the automatically generated semester invoice on time, even if a change of degree program/study program is pending. This is the only way to ensure that important online services, such as booking modules, are activated in a timely manner.

If the change results in a reduced semester invoice (which mainly relates to transfers from a master’s program to doctoral studies), the new invoice will be available for download in the "Enrollment" request as soon as the change has been approved. The old semester invoice will automatically be canceled and deleted from the student portal.

If you have already paid the full semester fees, the Student Administration Office will initiate a reimbursement for the difference. You will receive a letter by mail.