20 Best universities for Liberal Arts & Social Sciences in Switzerland

Updated: March 15, 2026

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in Switzerland ranked based on their research performance in Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. A graph of 13.6M citations received by 408K academic papers made by 20 universities in Switzerland was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. University of Zurich

Switzerland | Zurich

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#21 in Europe

#86 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 19%
Enrollment: 25,732

2. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich

Switzerland | Zurich

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#33 in Europe

#110 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 8%
Enrollment: 23,420

3. University of Bern

Switzerland | Bern

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#65 in Europe

#179 in the World

Enrollment: 19,608

4. University of Geneva

Switzerland | Geneva

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#68 in Europe

#184 in the World

Enrollment: 17,744

5. Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne

Switzerland | Lausanne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#76 in Europe

#206 in the World

Enrollment: 12,576

6. University of Lausanne

Switzerland | Lausanne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#93 in Europe

#243 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 31%
Enrollment: 16,908

7. University of Basel

Switzerland | Basel

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#140 in Europe

#342 in the World

Enrollment: 12,896

8. University of St. Gallen

Switzerland | St. Gallen

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#220 in Europe

#535 in the World

Enrollment: 7,666

9. University of Fribourg

Switzerland | Fribourg

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#232 in Europe

#568 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 33%
Enrollment: 10,366

10. University of Neuchatel

Switzerland | Neuchatel

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#337 in Europe

#836 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 25%
Enrollment: 4,282

11. Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Switzerland | Geneva

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#418 in Europe

#1111 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 20%
Enrollment: 1,141

12. University of Italian-speaking Switzerland

Switzerland | Lugano

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#447 in Europe

#1200 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 20%
Enrollment: 3,017

13. University of Lucerne

Switzerland | Lucerne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#591 in Europe

#1726 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Enrollment: 2,944

14. University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland

Switzerland | Delemont

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#641 in Europe

#1920 in the World

Enrollment: 21,038

15. University of Applied Sciences of Northwestern Switzerland

Switzerland | Brugg

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#667 in Europe

#2029 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Enrollment: 12,646

16. Bern University of Applied Sciences

Switzerland | Bern

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#745 in Europe

#2461 in the World

Enrollment: 6,970

17. University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Italian Switzerland

Switzerland | Manno

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#762 in Europe

#2563 in the World

18. Lucerne University of Applied Sciences

Switzerland | Lucerne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#770 in Europe

#2607 in the World

Enrollment: 7,066

19. Webster University Geneva

Switzerland | Bellevue

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#1236 in Europe

#5138 in the World

Enrollment: 500
Founded: 1915

20. Les Roches-Gruyere University of Applied Sciences

Switzerland | Bulle

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#1489 in Europe

#6925 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 90%
Founded: 2008

The best cities to study Liberal Arts & Social Sciences in Switzerland based on the number of universities and their ranks are Zurich, Bern, Geneva, and Lausanne.