Education for all was an aim of the liberals even before 1848. Most communes had primary schools in the 1830s, although the idea was not universally popular. Opposition came from different sides: from parents and factory owners who for different reasons wanted children to work, and from the church (both Catholic and Protestant) who mistrusted secular education. Some communes were also unwilling to spend money on schools.

Free primary schooling, administered by the cantons without any church interference was made compulsory under the 1874 constitution.

Attempts to establish a national school system failed because of cantonal opposition. Even today education is organised at cantonal level.

Plans for higher education also split the country. The radicals wanted to set up a Federal University, which would nurture national awareness along radical lines. Opposition came from two quarters: Conservatives regarded the idea as a provocation, while supporters of federalism in French-speaking Switzerland feared it would consolidate the domination of the German speaking majority. The compromise solution was the polytechnic in Zurich which opened its doors in 1855. (It is now the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and until 1969 was Switzerland's only national university).