César Ritz Colleges: Degree, Fees, Admission

StudyU editorial team

César Ritz Colleges Switzerland is a private hospitality business school of Swiss Education Group in the Alpine town of Brig, canton of Valais. Unlike its sister schools SHMS and HIM, it is accredited under the Swiss Higher Education Act as a university of applied sciences institute and awards its own degrees: a BSc and an MSc in Leadership. Its current programmes carry no joint awards with foreign universities, even though older agency pages still mention Washington State University and the University of Derby. The bachelor's lasts four years with two internships, and at 2026 rates the full budget is $195,520 (CHF 163,200) including housing and meals.

At a glance	2026
Status	private school, Swiss Education Group; listed by swissuniversities as an accredited university of applied sciences institute
Campus	Brig, German-speaking Upper Valais
Awarding body	César Ritz Colleges itself, for the BSc and MSc
Bachelor's	BSc in Hospitality Business Management, 180 ECTS, 4 years: 10 terms of 11 weeks plus 2 internships
English	IELTS 5.5 (no band below 4.5), TOEFL 4.0 on the updated scale, or Duolingo
Full BSc budget	$195,520 (CHF 163,200): tuition, single room, meals, infrastructure and services
Master's	MSc in Leadership, 15 months, $75,600 (CHF 63,100)
Next BSc intakes	January, July and October 2027

Who awards the degree, and what accreditation means

On the swissuniversities register, César Ritz Colleges appears under "other institutions of the higher education sector" as a university of applied sciences institute. Institutional accreditation was granted by the Swiss Accreditation Council; the council's 2025 activity report lists the school with the date 08.12.2023 in its table of accredited institutions. Glion and Les Roches hold the same status.

Qualification	Awarded by	Note
Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Business Management	César Ritz Colleges	a Swiss degree from an accredited institution, 180 ECTS
Bachelor of Science in Applied AI for Hospitality Business Management	César Ritz Colleges	new programme, next intake October 2027
Master of Science in Leadership	César Ritz Colleges	leaving early still brings a qualification: a CAS after term 1, a DAS after term 2, an MAS in Leadership after term 3

What happened to the US and UK degrees. The school once awarded bachelor's degrees with Washington State University (USA) and master's degrees with the University of Derby (UK). The University of Derby's page on César Ritz Colleges now opens with a note that no future cohorts will be recruited for that arrangement, and the school's own programme pages list only its own degrees. If anyone offers you a "dual degree", ask the school to confirm it in writing for your intake.

What accreditation changes. The school says its degrees fit the Bologna framework and are accepted for postgraduate applications at Swiss and European universities; each university still makes its own decision. Part-time work and post-study job search under migration rules are covered below, because the rules are less explicit for accredited private institutes than for public universities.

Who César Ritz suits

A good fit if	Compare alternatives if
You want a Swiss accredited degree rather than a UK or US one	You want a shorter bachelor's: HIM and SHMS take about three years
You accept four years including an introductory practical year	Your budget is tight: BHMS costs noticeably less
A small mountain town suits you better than a lakeside city	You want a Lake Geneva campus like Glion or EHL
Your English is about B1 and you have no IELTS 6.5–7.0	You specifically want a degree within the public HES-SO system, which is EHL

How the bachelor's is structured

Stage	Content
Industry Immersion Year: terms 1–2	hospitality management basics, business communication, customer service, culinary fundamentals, F&B, rooms division, wine and beverage, French or German
Internship 1	food and beverage department of an upscale property
Year 1: terms 3–5	AI and digital tools, HR, mathematics, ethics and law, micro- and macroeconomics, marketing, accounting, statistics, first specialisation elective
Internship 2	more responsibility: hotel operations, F&B, events, marketing, luxury or travel
Year 2: terms 6–8	CRM, events, ESG, international business, innovation and entrepreneurship, negotiation, luxury management
Year 3: terms 9–10	destination management, experience design, strategic hotel management; term 10 is the dissertation

Each academic term lasts 11 weeks, and students choose among six specialisations. According to the school's career service, 75% of internships take place in hotels and 46% in Switzerland, mostly the first one.

Requirements and application steps

Requirement	Condition
Education	completed secondary school: national certificate, IB, two A-levels, Abitur and others; IB, IBCP and BTEC holders may get direct entry or credit transfer
English	IELTS Academic 5.5 with no band below 4.5; TOEFL 4.0 with no part below 3.5; Duolingo accepted
Documents	school certificate or transcript, English test, passport copy, CV, motivation letter of 500+ words, references if available; official English translations
If your English is weaker	English Foundation Program, intakes in July and October 2027

Steps:

Register online and complete the application with documents.
Pay the $180 (CHF 150) application fee via the confirmation email.
Review and provisional acceptance letter.
Pay the $3,590 (CHF 3,000) confirmation fee within 30 days; it is credited to the first term.
Receive the enrolment letter for the visa.
Settle the balance of term one no later than six weeks before classes begin.

Allow 8–12 weeks between application and start if you need a visa; Swiss authorities make the final decision. Individual credit assessments are handled by the Swiss Education Group direct-entry team.

What does the BSc cost at 2026 rates?

Year	Included	Amount
Industry Immersion Year (terms 1–2)	tuition $18,450 (CHF 15,400), housing, meals, services	$39,890 (CHF 33,300)
Year 1 (terms 3–5)	tuition $33,780 (CHF 28,200), housing, meals, services	$65,410 (CHF 54,600)
Year 2 (terms 6–8)	same	$65,410 (CHF 54,600)
Year 3 (term 9 and dissertation)	tuition $14,260 (CHF 11,900), housing and services for term 9 only	$24,800 (CHF 20,700)
Total	tuition $100,280 (CHF 83,700), housing $32,350 (CHF 27,000), meals $16,170 (CHF 13,500), infrastructure and services $46,720 (CHF 39,000)	$195,520 (CHF 163,200)

No school fees are charged during internships. Standard housing is a single deluxe room cleaned every two weeks; meals cover weekday lunch and dinner, with student kitchens at weekends. Services cover residence-permit processing, Swiss residence taxes, health insurance during academic terms, liability cover and a welcome desk at Geneva Airport.

Extras:

refundable security deposit of $2,400 (CHF 2,000) from all applicants; internship-period health insurance of CHF 170 a month is deducted from it, and the balance is refunded six months after the last term;
cancellation insurance, optional, $370 (CHF 310) per term, reimbursing up to CHF 9,000 per term for insured events;
room upgrades at +$1,530 (CHF 1,280) or +$2,900 (CHF 2,420) per term;
housing during breaks at $520 (CHF 430) a week;
parking at $280 (CHF 230) or $460 (CHF 380) per term.

Paying a term's invoice in full at least 90 days ahead earns a 2% discount. Payments are accepted only in Swiss francs, and bank charges are the student's responsibility. Scholarships are limited, first come first served, calculated on tuition only and not combinable: merit awards (usually one-off for a single term), awards for holders of Swiss passports or B and C permits, and awards for graduates of institutions with which the school has credit-transfer agreements. FINS loans are open only to EU citizens.

Fees are reviewed annually, so request the budget for your own 2027 intake.

MSc in Leadership

Item	Detail
Length	15 months, 90 ECTS: three 11-week terms in Brig, then two off-campus terms with a capstone project or start-up accelerator and an optional internship
Specialisations	Hospitality & Tourism, Finance & Wealth Management, Luxury Brand Management
Requirements	recognised bachelor's in business or a related field (other fields may need a business seminar series), recommended minimum age 21
Fee	$75,600 (CHF 63,100): tuition $42,530 (CHF 35,500) plus housing, meals and services for three terms
Intakes	April and October 2027

Graduates of HIM's master's in applied AI can add a term in Brig and receive the César Ritz MSc in Leadership as a second master's.

Visa, the canton of Valais and work

Russian citizens apply for a national D visa at the visa section of the Swiss Embassy in Moscow (moscow.visa@eda.admin.ch, fee RUB 8,700), which also serves residents of Belarus and Uzbekistan; residents of Kazakhstan apply in Astana. The residence permit is issued by the Valais population and migration service (SPM).

Under the canton's rules, a student permit requires:

a school approved by the canton offering full-time study of at least 20 hours a week;
a personal study plan naming the target qualification, a CV and the school's confirmation of your academic and language level;
proof that tuition is paid and that you can cover living costs during your studies;
suitable housing; as a rule, one programme lasting no more than eight years.

You register with your commune within 14 days of arrival. Valais allows third-country students to take side jobs "under certain conditions", while federal SEM directives tie that right to higher-education status. Neither SEM nor the canton spells out whether students of an accredited private institute qualify, or whether its graduates get the six-month post-study job-search period, so ask the school whether its students have received such permits. See our Swiss student visa guide.

For Russian citizens: Article 20 of Swiss Ordinance SR 946.231.176.72 (version of 21.09.2026) bars banks from accepting deposits above CHF 100,000 from Russian nationals and residents and limits some payment services, unless the person holds a Swiss, EEA or UK residence permit. The school takes payment via Flywire or bank transfer in Swiss francs only. Legal payment routes are explained in how to pay for studies abroad from Russia, with more in studying in Switzerland for Russian citizens.

César Ritz, Glion and Les Roches

All three are accredited Swiss university of applied sciences institutes that award their own bachelor's degrees.

	César Ritz Colleges	Glion	Les Roches
Group	Swiss Education Group	Sommet Education	Sommet Education
Campus	Brig	Glion (Montreux) and Bulle	Crans-Montana
English	IELTS 5.5 (bands from 4.5)	IELTS 5.5 (bands from 5.0)	IELTS 5.5 (bands from 5.0)
Full bachelor's budget	$195,520 (CHF 163,200), 2026 rates	$277,830 (CHF 231,900), 2027 intake, per our profile	$270,730 (CHF 225,975), 2027 intake, per our profile

Glion and Les Roches figures come from our profiles of those schools and apply to a different intake year, so allow for annual price reviews. For the wider sector, see hospitality management in Switzerland.

Common mistakes

Trusting outdated descriptions. Joint awards with Washington State University and the University of Derby are no longer part of the school's programmes.
Lumping César Ritz together with SHMS and HIM. Same group, different status: César Ritz is accredited; the other two are not.
Treating internships as assigned places. The school helps with the search and interviews; the employer decides whom to hire.
Forgetting the immersion year. Four years of study mean four years of permits, insurance and living costs.
Comparing with EHL on annual tuition. César Ritz's budget already includes housing and meals; EHL lists housing separately.

Timeline for an October 2027 start

October–December 2026. Take IELTS 5.5 or TOEFL and decide whether you need the English Foundation Program.
By May 2027. Apply, pay CHF 150 and receive the provisional letter.
Within 30 days. Pay CHF 3,000 and receive the visa letter.
July 2027. Book the visa appointment and submit your file, allowing 8–12 weeks.
August 2027. Pay the rest of the first term and the deposit; arrive in Brig in October and register with the commune.

FAQ

Is César Ritz Colleges accredited in Switzerland?

Yes. swissuniversities lists it as an accredited university of applied sciences institute, with institutional accreditation from the Swiss Accreditation Council under the Higher Education Act. Glion and Les Roches have the same status.

Who awards the César Ritz bachelor's degree?

César Ritz Colleges itself awards the Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Business Management. The US and UK degrees mentioned in older reviews belonged to earlier arrangements and are not part of the current programmes.

What does a César Ritz bachelor's cost in total?

At 2026 rates the four-year BSc costs $195,520 (CHF 163,200), covering tuition, a single room, weekday lunches and dinners, and services. The CHF 2,000 refundable deposit and personal spending are extra.

What English level do I need?

IELTS Academic 5.5 with no band below 4.5, or TOEFL 4.0 on the updated scale with no part below 3.5; Duolingo is also accepted. Applicants below that level can start with the English Foundation Program.

Where is César Ritz Colleges located?

In Brig, in the German-speaking part of the canton of Valais, near Zermatt. The former Le Bouveret campus is now used by Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland.

Will the school arrange my visa?

The school issues an enrolment letter once the confirmation fee is paid, but the Swiss embassy issues the D visa and the Valais migration service decides on the residence permit, including whether your documents meet its requirements.

Sources

Dollar amounts use the ECB reference rate of 30.09.2026 (€1 = $1.1355 and CHF 0.9478, so CHF 1 ≈ $1.1980), rounded to $10. The embassy charges the visa fee in roubles. Information checked on 1 October 2026.

For the country overview see studying in Switzerland. If you want to compare César Ritz with other accredited schools against your budget, send a request: document preparation and submission are provided under an agreement with StudyU, and César Ritz Colleges makes the admission decision.

During the free initial consultation, we clarify your goal, profile, timing, and budget and identify the next realistic step.

César Ritz Colleges Switzerland: Accredited Degrees, Fees and Admission