EPFL is a Swiss federal institute of technology. Its history pages state that the Ecole Speciale de Lausanne opened on 7 November 1853 and that on 1 January 1969 its successor became the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. It lists 13 bachelor's and 29 master's programmes across six schools and colleges, with bachelor's studies usually running three years or 180 ECTS credits.