Master in Management

The Master in Management at the Università della Svizzera italiana is a two-year, 120-ECTS, entirely English-taught MSc run by the university’s Faculty of Economics in Lugano, in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.¹ It is a genuine pre-experience master — no work experience, no admission test of any kind, and no GMAT — and it is designed for “graduates from various backgrounds” rather than for business majors.¹ ² ⁸

Two things should shape how you read the rest of this profile. The intake is capped at 70 places, and selection weighs the ranking of your undergraduate institution alongside your grades.² And on money, this is the one Swiss programme on this site where the country’s low-tuition rule does not protect an international student: from 2027/28 USI charges CHF 5,000 a semester — CHF 20,000 across the degree — against CHF 10,673 for the whole of St. Gallen’s FT-#1 master.⁴

Overview

USI is young by European standards: its Faculty of Economics dates itself to 1996 and today reports 1,027 students from 49 countries across all its programmes.¹⁰ The Master in Management sits inside that faculty, alongside masters in Economics, Finance and Public Management and Policy, and is taught on the Lugano campus.¹ The degree awarded is a Master of Science in Management.¹

Two honest caveats belong at the top. There is no programme ranking. We could not find USI in the Financial Times Masters in Management table this site sorts its shortlists by, and USI claims no ranking on its own pages — the Swiss entries we carry FT positions for are St. Gallen at #1, ZHAW at #58 and HEC Lausanne at #75 — and we could not confirm a QS Business Masters position either, so we set no rank and keep the programme off our rank-sorted shortlists. USI also makes no AACSB, EQUIS or AMBA claim anywhere on the programme’s own pages; what it does state is that it is an accredited Swiss university whose degrees are recognised abroad under the Lisbon Convention.¹ And USI publishes no cohort data — no class size, no average age, no international share, no gender split. We do not fill those gaps from aggregators, so this profile omits them.

Who this programme is for

Most European management masters ask you to prove you already belong to the field. USI’s asks the opposite question, and that is the clearest reason to consider it.

The formal gate is a recognised bachelor’s degree of at least three years and 180 ECTS, with 80% of credits earned at a recognised institution and at least 50% at the university that awarded the degree; a University of Applied Sciences bachelor can be admitted with 30–60 additional ECTS decided case by case.² Undergraduate work in economics or management “may represent an advantage” — it is explicitly not a requirement.² Set that against Uppsala, which requires 90 credits of business studies in the bachelor’s, and the difference in who can apply is stark. If you are a converting engineer, scientist or humanities graduate, USI is a door that is genuinely open; our MiM vs MSc in Management explainer covers why that distinction matters more than the degree label.

The counterweight is scale. **“The number of places is limited to 70 to ensure an optimal learner-to-faculty ratio; therefore, there will be a selection.”**² Selection runs on the average grade and the ranking of your undergraduate institution, then on the fit shown in the motivation letter and CV.² That second criterion is stated more openly than most schools manage, and it is worth knowing before you spend a February on the application: an unranked or little-known undergraduate institution is a headwind here in a way it is not at a school selecting purely on transcript and essay.

Curriculum & Structure

The programme is 120 ECTS over four semesters, full-time and on campus — USI runs no part-time or distance version of it.¹ ⁸ The first two semesters are a common core in economics and management; the last is given over to applied work: *“a consulting project for a company, an internship and by writing a master’s thesis.”*⁶

Specialisation is optional, and this is where USI’s own pages disagree with each other. The programme overview page describes three tracks — Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Organization and Human Resources Management, Socially Responsible Management — taken across the second and third semesters.¹ The study plan page describes four, adding Startup and Venture Creation, and puts the choice in the third semester.⁶ Both agree that each track is 18 ECTS delivered as six 3-ECTS courses, that specialising is voluntary, and that completing one is recorded as a “concentration” on the final transcript.¹ ⁶ We have not resolved which is current — the study-plan page reads as the newer of the two — so ask the programme office which tracks run in your intake if a specific one is your reason for applying. Students may also take electives from other USI masters with the director’s approval.⁶

That shape — a common core, an optional concentration, a final semester of company project, internship and thesis — puts USI on the applied rather than the purely academic side of the one-year versus two-year trade-off, but it is still a two-year, thesis-bearing degree, which is the standard continental shape rather than the compressed British one.

Application & Deadlines

USI admits once a year, to a September start. The Management programme is not among the USI masters that run a spring intake, so a missed cycle costs a full year.⁸

Applications are reviewed in three rounds — deadlines at the end of February, April and June, with the June round open only to Swiss and EU/EFTA candidates — and decisions follow within three weeks of each round.² ³ That is fast, and it matters if you are holding competing offers with reply deadlines. For the 2026/27 cycle the window opened on 9 December 2025, with final deadlines of 30 April 2026 for non-EU/EFTA candidates and 30 June 2026 for Swiss and EU/EFTA candidates who do not need a visa.³ The 2027 dates are not published as of 1 September 2026, so the dates on this page are our projection of the same pattern and are marked indicative on the deadline tracker.

Three practical details are easy to miss:

• The two pages contradict each other on late applications. The admission page says “Late applications will not be accepted”; the application page says they *“will be considered only in the case of available places.”*² ³ Plan on the stricter reading.
• The English certificate is a gate, not a formality. *“Any application submitted without valid English certification at the time of review will be considered incomplete and will not be processed.”*² USI accepts only IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge English and TOEIC at CEFR B2+ — IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 85, Cambridge First at grade B, TOEIC 860 listening-and-reading with 170 in speaking and writing — and generally will not accept a certificate more than three years old as of 1 September.⁷ A bachelor’s taught entirely in English replaces it, evidenced by an official document naming the language of instruction.⁷ ⁸
• You can name two USI programmes on one form, as first and second choice.⁸ Applications may be submitted before you graduate, provided all exams are passed by September.⁸

The document set is the standard one — diplomas, transcripts, CV, a one-page motivation letter, English certification and ID — and the motivation letter is the only place in the dossier where you control the narrative, so treat it accordingly; our how to build a MiM profile guide is the relevant reading.³ Non-EU/EFTA applicants should work backwards from the visa: USI states the procedure takes one to four months and cannot begin before the admission letter exists, which is the real reason the April deadline, not the June one, is the international applicant’s deadline.⁸

Tuition & Funding

From the 2027/28 academic year, USI charges a semester fee of CHF 5,000 for bachelor’s and master’s programmes alike — CHF 20,000 across this degree’s four semesters.⁴ It is reduced to CHF 2,000 a semester (CHF 8,000 in total) for Swiss nationals; for foreign nationals already legally resident in Switzerland or Liechtenstein when they obtained the qualification that gave them university access; for students admitted on their dossier who are resident in Switzerland at the time of the decision; for students who acquire Swiss nationality mid-degree; for students in the asylum sector; and for Swiss or EU citizens resident in Campione d’Italia.⁴ Students who enrolled before 2027/28 keep the fee that applied when they first enrolled.⁴

Two honest notes on that figure. First, USI’s pages state the new regime and not the old one: we could find no page on usi.ch, in English or Italian, that still publishes the pre-2027/28 semester fee (checked 1 September 2026), and the USI Desk page that search engines still index for it refuses automated requests. So if you are a continuing student on the old rate, this profile cannot tell you what it is — ask the Dean’s Office. Second, because applications for autumn 2026 closed in June 2026, the next intake a new applicant can target is autumn 2027, which falls under the new regime — the CHF 5,000 figure is the one to budget against, not a future problem.

For an international applicant that makes USI, on tuition, the most expensive Swiss programme on this site by a wide margin:

The Swiss cost advantage is real at the other four and largely absent here for an international student, so do not choose USI for the price — choose it, if you do, for the open academic gate, the small cohort and the Ticino–Italy job market described below. Our public versus private MiM comparison and how much a MiM in Europe costs put the figure in the European context.

On top of tuition, a CHF 100 application fee is charged to candidates whose previous degree was completed outside a Lisbon Convention country.³ In practice that is a fee on applicants from India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria and most of Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, and not on applicants from the EU/EEA, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Israel, New Zealand or Turkey, all of which are signatories.³ It is deducted from the first semester’s tuition if you enrol and is not refunded if you withdraw or are rejected.³

On scholarships, USI’s programme page says almost nothing — only that “various public and private institutions offer scholarships”, with no named scheme, amount, eligibility rule or deadline.⁴ We do not invent what a school does not publish, so this profile names none. If funding decides your choice, the Swiss federal excellence scholarships and your own country’s schemes are the routes to research first; our MiM scholarships in Europe hub is the starting point.

Living costs are the other half of the budget, and USI itemises them: CHF 1,300–1,900 a month in Lugano, made up of CHF 450–800 for a shared room or one-bedroom apartment, CHF 450 for food and household expenses, CHF 50–100 for transport, CHF 50 for books, CHF 200 for other expenses and CHF 160–280 for health insurance where required.⁹ USI warns that it does not have enough on-campus housing for its students, so accommodation is your own problem to solve, and international students must register for a residence permit within 14 days of arriving.⁹ Over a two-year degree that is roughly CHF 31,000–46,000 of living costs on top of tuition — see student cost of living across European MiM cities for how Lugano compares.

Career Outcomes

USI publishes its own alumni-survey figures for this programme rather than an audited ranking body’s, and they are unusually detailed. From the 2024 USI Master Survey of the 2023 and 2019 graduating classes: 97.2% employed one year after graduation at an average of CHF 62,900, rising to 100% employed and CHF 84,600 five years out.⁵ The route to work is fast — 81.3% had a job before or immediately after graduation and a further 15.6% within three months.⁵

Read those as self-reported survey figures with no published response rate or cohort size, not as an audited placement report, and note that they sit outside the FT methodology this site’s highest-salary shortlist uses — which is why we record USI’s salary here but do not rank it against FT-audited figures.

The more decision-relevant number is where graduates go. USI reports 55.9% working in Switzerland — 35.3% of the total in Ticino itself and 20.6% in other cantons — and 32.4% in Italy, with 11.7% elsewhere.⁵ That distribution is the real character of this programme. Lugano sits twenty minutes from the Italian border, and roughly a third of the cohort’s outcomes are on the Italian side of it; a further third stay in a small Italian-speaking canton. If your plan is a German-speaking Zurich finance career or a pan-European consulting track, that is a signal worth taking seriously — see working in Switzerland after a European MiM and Swiss MiM career outcomes for what the wider Swiss market looks like.

By industry, USI reports Industry 27.2%, Consulting 24.2%, Banking, finance, insurance and accounting 18.2%, IT and web 12.1%, and 6.1% each in education and research, tourism and transport, and trade.⁵ By function, the largest blocks are finance, accounting, audit and compliance (26.6%) and business development, consulting and strategy (20.6%), with sales at 11.2%.⁵ We carry the consulting, industry and IT shares through to our specialisation hubs, but not the banking-and-finance one: it blends banking, finance, insurance and accounting into a single bucket, so it is not a clean share of finance and we do not present it as one.

USI also names “some of the 200+ employers where USI Master in Management Graduates work”, and the list has a shape worth noticing.¹¹ Alongside the expected professional-services and Swiss corporate names — Accenture, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, UBS, Credit Suisse, Roche, Migros, Schindler, SBB — sits an unusually deep luxury and fashion cluster: LVMH, Richemont, Gucci, Luxottica, Hugo Boss, Dolce&Gabbana, Michael Kors, Bally, Guess, Clarins and VF International. That is Lugano’s geography showing up in the outcomes, since northern Italy’s luxury houses are within commuting distance, and it is a genuine differentiator for a reader with that sector in mind — though note it comes from an employer list rather than a placement statistic, and USI runs no luxury or fashion specialisation track, which is why the programme does not appear on our luxury and fashion MiM shortlist.

Reputation

The case for USI is specific. It is an accredited Swiss university teaching a two-year, 120-ECTS management master entirely in English, with no admission test, no GMAT, no work-experience requirement and no business-bachelor prerequisite — a combination that is rare in a country whose best-known management master is one of the most selective in Europe. The cohort is small by design, decisions arrive within three weeks, and the school publishes more outcome detail than most of its peers, including the awkward parts.

The case against is equally clear, and both should be held at once. There is no FT or QS programme ranking and no AACSB, EQUIS or AMBA mark. No cohort data is published at all. Tuition is the highest of the five Swiss programmes we profile for an international student, and the school’s own pages disagree about how many specialisation tracks exist and whether late applications are considered. And the outcomes, strong as they are, are concentrated in Ticino and northern Italy rather than spread across Europe.

For the alternatives, weigh USI against the other Swiss programmes — St. Gallen, HEC Lausanne, ZHAW and Geneva — in our best MiM in Switzerland comparison, and against the wider field in the full rankings. If the open academic gate is what draws you, the best MiM in Europe shortlist and MiM in Europe without the GMAT are the two lists to read next.

¹ Università della Svizzera italiana — Master in Management (offered by the Faculty of Economics in Lugano; “This full-time study programme comprises 120 ECTS spread over 4 semesters (usual duration 2 years) and is entirely offered in English”; “The MSc in Management has been designed to provide graduates from various backgrounds with the necessary skills and tools for understanding modern management concepts”; three specialisation tracks — Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Organization and Human Resources Management, Socially Responsible Management — of 18 ECTS each “offered in six 3 ECTS courses in the second and third Semesters”, optional, recorded as a “concentration” on the final transcript; “After the successful completion of the programme, students will be awarded a Master of Science in Management”; USI described as “a recognised or accredited Swiss university” whose qualifications are recognised abroad under the Lisbon Convention of 11 April 1997; retrieved 1 September 2026).

² USI — Master in Management, Admission (a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university confirming “at least three years of study (at least 180 ECTS credits)”, 80% of credits from a recognised higher education institution and at least 50% from the awarding university; University of Applied Sciences graduates “may be admitted with 30-60 additional ECTS”, case by case; “The number of places is limited to 70 to ensure an optimal learner-to-faculty ratio; therefore, there will be a selection”; selection criteria “Academic background including the applicant’s average grade and ranking of the undergraduate institution. Undergraduate studies in economics or management may represent an advantage”, the letter of motivation and CV, and proof of English proficiency; “Any application submitted without valid English certification at the time of review will be considered incomplete and will not be processed”; “Applications will be reviewed in three rounds, with deadlines at the end of February, April, and June (the June deadline only for Swiss and EU/EFTA candidates). Late applications will not be accepted”; “Admission decisions will be communicated to applicants within three weeks after each review round”; retrieved 1 September 2026).

³ USI — Master in Management, Application Procedure (Academic Year 2026/27, autumn semester 2026: “Opening of applications: 9 December 2025”; “The ultimate deadlines for submitting an application for the Autumn intake are: 30 April 2026 for international (non-EU/EFTA) candidates. 30 June 2026 for Swiss and European (EU/EFTA) candidates who do not require a visa”; “Late applications will be considered only in the case of available places”; required documents include past diplomas, official transcripts, certified translations where needed, CV, a motivation letter of “not more than one page”, official English certification and ID; “a registration fee of CHF 100.- is required” from candidates not exempt, the exemption applying to those whose previous degree studies were completed in a Lisbon Convention signatory country, with the 57-country list reproduced on the page; “The registration fee is non-refundable in the event of withdrawal by the student or rejection. In case of enrolment, the fee will be deducted from the first semester’s tuition fees”; retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁴ USI — Master in Management, Tuition and scholarships (“For students enrolling from the 2027/28 academic year onwards, a semester fee of CHF 5,000 will apply to Bachelor (undergraduate) and Master (graduate) programmes at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)”; “The semester fee is reduced to CHF 2,000 in the following cases: students of Swiss nationality; students of foreign nationality who are legally resident in Switzerland or the Principality of Liechtenstein at the time of obtaining their secondary school diploma or other qualification granting access to university studies; students of foreign nationality admitted on the basis of their ‘dossier’ who are legally resident in Switzerland at the time the admission decision is issued; students who acquire Swiss nationality during their period of enrolment…; students in the asylum sector…; students holding Swiss or European Union citizenship who are resident in Campione d’Italia”; “Students enrolled at USI before the 2027/28 academic year… will retain the semester fee in effect at the time of their initial enrolment”; on funding, only that “various public and private institutions offer scholarships to students enrolled in Bachelor and Master programs”, with no scheme, amount or deadline named. The page states no figure for the pre-2027/28 fee, and neither does USI’s central English tuition page nor its Italian equivalent (usi.ch/it/formazione/tasse-e-borse-di-studio), both checked the same day; the USI Desk page indexed by search engines for that figure returns 403 to automated requests. Retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁵ USI — Master in Management, Employability (“The following data are based on the last USI Alumni Survey, carried out by the USI Career&Alumni Service and the USI Alumni DB.” One year after graduation: employed 97.2%, time to job −0.3 months, “81.3% before or immediately after graduation – 15.6% within 3 months”, salary 62,900 Chf. Five years after graduation: employed 100%, salary 84,600 Chf. Place of work: Switzerland 55.9%, of which Ticino 35.3% and other Swiss cantons 20.6%; Italy 32.4%; other countries 11.7%. Employment industries: Industry 27.2%, Consulting 24.2%, “Banking, Finance, Insurance services, Accounting” 18.2%, “Informatics, Technology, Web” 12.1%, “Educational, Research institutions” 6.1%, “Tourism and transportation” 6.1%, Trade 6.1%. Employment functions: “Finance, Accounting, Auditing, Compliance” 26.6%, “Business Development, Management Consulting, Strategy” 20.6%, Sales 11.2%, “E-commerce, Digital” 5.9%, “Operations, Logistics” 5.9%, “Human Resources, Organization” 5.9%, “Program, Project Management” 5.9%, all others 18.0%. “Source: 2024 USI Master Survey (alumni 2023 and alumni 2019) and USI Alumni DB.” No response rate, cohort size or third-party audit is stated; retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁶ USI — Master in Management, Study plan (“In the third semester, students have the possibility to specialize in their studies. They can choose one of four different specialization tracks: Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Organization and Human Resources Management, Socially Responsible Management, Startup and Venture Creation. Each track consists of 18 ECTS, offered in six 3 ECTS courses. The completion of each specialization track will result in a ‘concentration’. Students do not have to specialize”; students may take electives from other USI master’s programmes with the director’s approval; “In the last semester, students learn to apply the knowledge and tools acquired in the first three semesters in a consulting project for a company, an internship and by writing a master’s thesis”; the study plan “may be subject to changes”. This page names four tracks and places the choice in the third semester; the programme overview page (footnote 1) names three and places them in the second and third semesters. Retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁷ USI — Master in Management, Language Requirements (applicants whose previous degree was obtained in a language other than English must provide “an internationally recognized language certificate at the B2+ level as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)”; the stated equivalences are IELTS 6.5, TOEFL “Internet-based: 85”, Cambridge English “First grade B” and TOEIC “Listening & Reading: 860, Speaking: 170, Writing: 170”; “We only accept the above English qualifications (IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge English, TOEIC)”; candidates whose bachelor’s was taught entirely in English must upload an official document naming the language of instruction; “We generally cannot accept language test results older than three years as of September 1st”; IELTS Academic Online and TOEFL iBT Home Edition results are accepted; retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁸ USI — Master in Management, FAQ (“All our Master’s programmes are full time”; “All our Master programmes are full time and taught on campus. We do not offer distance learning”; the master’s programmes offering a spring-semester intake are listed and the Master in Management is not among them; “You can apply to up to two programmes in one application form. Please mark your first and second choice”; “Will there be an admission test? No, there are no admission tests; a candidate’s application dossier determines admission”; “The GRE/GMAT test is compulsory for applicants to the Master in Finance with a Bachelor obtained in a non-EU/non-EFTA country. The test is not mandatory for all other candidates”; applications may be sent before graduating provided all exams are passed by September; “The visa procedure may take one to four months, depending on the residence country”, and candidates must hold a USI admission letter before starting it; retrieved 1 September 2026).

⁹ USI — Organising your studies (“Living costs in Lugano or Mendrisio are, on average, between CHF 1,300 - 1,900 per month”, itemised as “CHF 450-800 for a shared single room or one-bedroom apartment”, “CHF 450 for food and other household expenses”, “CHF 50-100 for public transportation”, “CHF 50 for books and study materials”, “CHF 200 for expenses of various kinds” and “CHF 160-280 for Health Insurance, when required”; “USI unfortunately does not have sufficient on-campus housing to accommodate all students, who should therefore provide for themselves”; international students “must apply for a residence permit for educational purposes” within 14 days of arrival in Switzerland; retrieved 1 September 2026).

¹⁰ USI Faculty of Economics (quick facts: “1027 students from 49 countries”; the faculty’s own history link is captioned “Earnest and rigorous, since 1996”; institutes listed include the Institute of Management and Organisation, the Institute of Economics, the Institute of Finance and the Institute for Economic Research; retrieved 1 September 2026).

¹¹ USI — Master in Management, Employers (“The following are some of the 200+ employers where USI Master in Management Graduates work”, followed by a named list: Accenture, Amazon.com, Amministrazione Federale, Avaloq, AXA Winterthur, Bally, Clarins Group, Cornèr Bank, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Dolce&Gabbana, Ebay, EY, FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ferrero, Goodyear Dunlop, Google, Gucci, Guess, Helsinn Healthcare, Hugo Boss, Johnson & Johnson, Kessel Auto, KPMG, Lidl Schweiz, Luxottica, LVMH, Manor, Michael Kors, Migros, OSCE, Philipp Plein, Pirelli, PWC PricewaterhouseCoopers, Richemont, Roche, SBB CFF FFS, Schindler Group, Skills Alliance, Tetra Pak, UBS, UNDP, VF International. No share, cohort or year is attached to the list, so it is an employer roster rather than a placement statistic; retrieved 1 September 2026).