HES-SO

What HES-SO does

HES-SO (Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale) is a public University of Applied Sciences and Arts serving Western Switzerland. It is one of eight Swiss UAS — alongside BFH, FHNW, FHGR, HSLU, OST, SUPSI, and ZHAW — that jointly deliver the Master of Science in Engineering (MSE), a 90-ECTS, three-semester degree structured as 30 ECTS of nationally-coordinated theory modules, 30 ECTS of specialization projects, and 30 ECTS of thesis work, spanning 16 profiles across Engineering/IT (Aviation, Computer Science, Data Science, Photonics, Medical Engineering, and related fields) and Construction/Planning (Civil Engineering, Geomatics, and related fields). Program administration is centralized in the MSE-CH office hosted at OST in Rapperswil, while thesis projects and applied research are decentralized to each participating UAS, allowing regional specialization on top of a nationally uniform core curriculum.

Students are admitted selectively from roughly the top 35% of bachelor's graduates, typically requiring Grade A or B transcripts, and progress into applied-industry or specialist roles; thesis work produces applied assets such as a deep-learning model for breast-cancer diagnosis at the University Hospital of Zurich and projects with industrial partners including Guess Europe and Swiss WorldCargo. The program also supports an international semester exchange within the 90-ECTS framework and operates a multilingual platform (English, German, French, Italian) at msengineering.ch.

As a public institution, HES-SO is funded primarily through cantonal and federal channels coordinated under the Swissuniversities umbrella, with regulated tuition fees that are not publicly disclosed. There is no commercial revenue stream: monetization occurs via tuition plus a share of publicly-funded R&D, and the customer base is diversified by design — domestic and international students plus applied-research sponsors across healthcare, fashion/retail, and aviation logistics — while funding itself is structurally concentrated in the public sector.

Name

HES-SO

Legal name

HES-SO | Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale

Website

https://msengineering.ch

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

HES-SO (Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale) is a public Swiss University of Applied Sciences serving Western Switzerland and one of eight UAS jointly delivering the Master of Science in Engineering, admitting the top ~35% of bachelor's graduates across 16 specialized profiles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rapperswil

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Registration Fees: Public university tuition fees charged to students enrolled in the MSE program. Fees are regulated by Swiss public higher education funding structures.
2. Public Cantonal/Federal Funding: The 8 UAS receive government funding from cantonal and federal sources for operating this joint master's program, as they are publicly-run universities of applied sciences under Swissuniversities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HES-SO (Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale) is a Swiss University of Applied Sciences participating in the joint Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) program, alongside seven other Swiss UAS. The MSE is a 90 ECTS credits master's degree offering 16 specialized profiles across Engineering/Information Technology and Construction/Planning domains. HES-SO specifically delivers profiles in Aviation, Civil Engineering, and Information Science (with specializations in AI/Data Science, Machine Learning, NLP, and Computer Vision).

Product overview

HES-SO offers the Master of Science in Engineering (MSE), a comprehensive Swiss higher education program jointly delivered by eight public Universities of Applied Sciences. The program comprises 90 ECTS credits and is structured around 16 specialized profiles divided into two tracks: Engineering & IT (Aviation, Business Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical Engineering, Energy and Environment, Information and Cyber Security, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and Automation, Medical Engineering, Microengineering, Photonics and Laser Engineering) and Construction & Planning (Building Technologies, Civil Engineering, Geomatics, Raumentwicklung und Landschaftsarchitektur). The program includes Theory Modules (30 ECTS) covering Technical-Scientific Modules (TSM), Extended Theoretical Foundations (FTP), and Contextual Modules (CM). Students complete projects, supplementary courses, and a Master's thesis at their chosen UAS. The program is supported by an MSE Moodle learning management system and offers industry collaboration services for R&D partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 90 ECTS credits completed in 3 semesters (full-time study)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability15 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BFH (Berner Fachhochschule)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBerner Fachhochschule (BFH) is one of the 8 publicly-run Swiss UAS collaborating in the MSE joint program. BFH offers MSE profiles including Civil Engineering, Photonics, and Aviation, with study language typically English and German or French.
• FHNW (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) participates in the MSE program, offering profiles in Geomatics, Civil Engineering, Building Technologies, and Photonics with study language in English or German.
• FHGR (Fachhochschule Graubünden)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFachhochschule Graubünden (FHGR) offers MSE Civil Engineering and Photonics profiles, with programs connected to alpine building technology and natural hazards research.
• HSLU (Hochschule Luzern)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHochschule Luzern (HSLU) participates in MSE offering Civil Engineering, Building Technologies, and Photonics profiles, with instruction typically in German.
• OST (Ostschweizer Fachhochschule)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOST (Ostschweizer Fachhochschule) hosts the MSE head office and offers profiles in Raumentwicklung und Landschaftsarchitektur, Civil Engineering, Building Technologies, and Photonics. Study language predominantly German.
• SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUPSI offers MSE profiles including Civil Engineering and Photonics at its Mendrisio campus, with instruction in English and connection to experimental facilities and research institutes.
• ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZHAW participates in MSE offering Civil Engineering and Photonics profiles, with focus areas including lightweight structures with fiber composite materials and innovative construction methods.
• SwissuniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwissuniversities is the national association of Swiss higher education institutions that provides institutional framework and coordination for the MSE program and its 8 participating UAS.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• TU Delft: Dutch technical university offering master's in engineering (mechanical, electrical, computer science, aerospace) with strong industry ties. Comparable international peer for advanced engineering education with similar employability outcomes.
• Technical University of Munich (TUM): Germany's largest technical university offering a wide range of master's in engineering and IT, often cited alongside Swiss institutions for applied engineering talent. Comparable in profile breadth and industry integration, though a full research university rather than a UAS.
• Aalto University: Finnish university formed from a merger of Helsinki University of Technology with business and design schools; offers master's in engineering with applied-science orientation similar to the UAS model. Comparable peer for industry-integrated engineering master's programs in Northern Europe.

Emerging players

• FH Aachen: German Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) offering practice-oriented master's in engineering. Most structurally comparable peer outside Switzerland because it shares the UAS/FH applied-science model that distinguishes MSE from full research universities.

Direct peers

• OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule: MSE partner UAS that hosts the central MSE-CH administrative office in Rapperswil. Competes with HES-SO for engineering students in Switzerland and participates in the same nationwide MSE delivery framework.
• ETH Zürich: Swiss federal institute of technology offering master's-level engineering programs that compete for the same top Swiss and international engineering bachelor's graduates as MSE. Comparable in MSc recognition, but positioned as a research university rather than a UAS.
• OST Eastern Switzerland UAS — joint MSE delivery network: Listed above; included again to emphasize that within the MSE network, HES-SO competes with each partner UAS for student enrollment in overlapping profiles (Civil Engineering, Photonics, Mechatronics, etc.) while jointly delivering the same degree.
• ZHAW: Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften — one of the 8 MSE partner UAS and a direct co-deliverer of the MSE program. Operates the same UAS model in engineering education and competes with HES-SO for the same student and industry-collaboration pool.
• SUPSI: Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana — one of the 8 MSE partner UAS, offering MSE profiles in Civil Engineering and Photonics at the Mendrisio campus. Comparable in mission and delivery model to HES-SO.
• EPFL: Swiss federal institute of technology in Lausanne offering master's in engineering with comparable international recognition and similar profile breadth (CS, Data Science, Electrical, Mechanical, etc.). Directly competes with MSE for top applicants and industry partnerships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hes-so

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HES-SO