Legal protection of university degrees approved
Institutional Communication Service
17 March 2023
In the parliamentary session of 14 March 2023, the Grand Council of Ticino approved, with 63 votes in favour and 10 abstentions, the amendments to the Law on Universities of Applied Sciences (UGC), which introduces, at the cantonal level, protection for university degrees.
At present, the names of universities are federally protected, and names such as 'university' or 'university of teacher education' may only be used by accredited (public or private) institutions.
The protection of degrees, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the cantons. With the recently approved LSU, bachelor's, master's, PhD's, licence and degree titles can no longer be awarded in Ticino by institutions without accreditation, including those operating in the name of or on behalf of universities based outside Switzerland and recognised in the country in which they are based.
