Private business enterprises set up as higher education institutions claiming a form of accreditation with no official ties to local governments ministry fall under the category of unaccredited institutions of higher education (uHEI). Said institutions can award private degrees in accordance with the Swiss government under the HEdA. Such degrees do not confer entitlement upon the holder for which the Swiss authorities will recognize the studies offered, examinations passed, or the qualifications issued by said type of institutions.
Institutional accreditation in Switzerland is granted by the Swiss Accreditation Council after a review by the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ). Such Confederation-accreditation grants the institution in Switzerland the right to call (use) itself a University as well receiving state grants. (Student visa rights, accommodation) Government-established Universities are institutionally accredited through the accreditation council or Ministry of Education. Some programs, especially medical fields like pharmacy and medicine, must be programmatically accredited through the accreditation council.
Business schools can go to private programmatic Institutions to improve the level of their programs and quality offered to students. The so-called triple accreditation is often seen as the highest quality certification for business schools. The most well-regarded accreditation agencies are AACSB in the United States, AMBA in the United Kingdom, and EQUIS in the European Union, albeit they all accredit schools in other world regions. Many other accreditation agencies exist, but their accreditation is less well-regarded and may sometimes approach being an accreditation mill. In the accreditation guide, membership and accreditation from private accrediting agencies (IACBE, ACBSP, AACSB) do not fall under the same level of recognition. Private programmatic accreditation does not guarantee any acceptance for the degrees, titles, or qualifications awarded by uHEI; those still fall to the respected MoE the uHEI are registered.
Some private uHEI grant dual degree programs with a partnered university. The degrees from such partnerships are properly recognized if the referenced University is recognized from the respective Ministry of Education.
The Swiss Government does not provide any official support for scholarship programs and granting visas for uHEI. Some schools do offer those on their own, and they can provide students with it if they have enlisted in uHEI private programs and achieve it through these means. These scholarships are not granted by the Swiss Ministry of Education and are in no part of their own educational systems, visa included.
Private degrees from unaccredited institutions are considered to be usable only in non-regulated professions (such as a manager or journalist). In regards to employment, the valuation of these degrees falls to the employers. For certain non-regulated occupations, some employers require that applicants be registered or certified by the relevant professional association as a condition for employment.
This table is based on data from Swiss official sites Swissuniversities and Akkreditierungsrat, as well as whether the German government recognizes the institution's degrees as equivalent to German university degrees. This information may not be complete.