A few facts are given, they are just there, and we as Swiss cannot do much about it, except to preserve it: A beautiful landscape, with mountains, lakes, forests, an infrastructure which works clock-like, a clean environment, a high sense of security and a multicultural society in the middle of Europe. Other features were and still are however very much “Swiss-like,” such as the eagerness for innovation, openness for new ideas as well as the constant search for perfection. In addition, the public schools in Switzerland have had a long history of excellence in education where visionary people could establish their own schools and institutes. Through many years of work and judging from their results of decades of activity they have made a name, and indeed their own brand, which can be more succinctly stated as “Excellence in Education”.

Franklin College Switzerland founded in 1969 is a US and Swiss accredited liberal arts college offering a four-year BA degree in International Management, International Economics, Marketing, Finance, International Banking and Finance, International Relations, European Studies, Environmental Studies, French Studies, Italian Studies, Art History, Visual and Communication Arts, Communication and Media Studies, Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, and History and Literature. Franklin College is accredited in the United States by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Franklin’s programs of study have been granted Swiss university accreditation by the Swiss University Conference. The Franklin campus is located in a park overlooking Lugano in southern Switzerland, with student residences on and adjacent to the campus. The program is enhanced by an academic travel study-program (two weeks each semester) that takes faculty and students to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the United States. The academic year consists of two semesters, and students may enter in August and January. Franklin College’s summer program runs from the end of May to the middle of July.

The Swiss Educational Institutions of today integrate approximately 100 to 120 establishments of “knowledge transfer.” Among these include 10 public universities, 2 polytechnicum, 60 universities of applied science, and a high number of hotel schools, high schools, private Universities and boarding schools. It is the boarding schools, which are of the biggest interest for Saudi students.

They offer a wide variety of curriculums in science, languages, culture and sport. In some schools languages like, Arabic, Chinese, Thai or Serbian can be taken as well as a wide choice of musical instruments. These programs lead to a range of examinations renowned throughout the world. These include the IGCSE, Advance Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), the Swiss Federal Maturity, the French Baccalaureate and the German Abitur. These certificates are accepted for entry into Swiss universities and to universities in other countries. One can dare to say, that the graduates of these schools are future leaders.

Parents surely do not look for a club med for their children. Beside security they are looking for a good care, discipline and structure and most importantly, an excellent education with recognized certificates. For international clients it is also important that the Institutions insist on a strict quota. More than 10 percent of the students should not come from the same country. It is this international mix that allows a student in Switzerland to make life-long friendships.

Beside a family tradition to enroll a student in a certain boarding school, there might also be other reasons, such as intense professional occupation of the parents in which they are unable to give full attention to their children or tension of any sort, which can lead to a breakdown of the school achievements.