Bachelor’s degrees in Germany

1. Types of university, and which suits you

German higher education is split into distinct institution types, and choosing the wrong type for your goals is a more consequential mistake than choosing the wrong city.

2. What it costs

The headline is accurate: undergraduate study at a German public university is generally free of tuition. What you do pay is a semester contribution, which is an administrative and student-body fee rather than tuition, and often includes a local public transport ticket that would cost more on its own.

There are two exceptions for non-EU students. Baden-Württemberg charges tuition for non-EU students, and Bavaria has introduced fees that vary by institution. Both are still well below fees in the English-speaking world, but they are real and should be budgeted.

3. Your school certificate: the decisive question

German universities admit on the basis of a Hochschulzugangsberechtigung, a higher education entrance qualification. The German version is the Abitur. The question for an international applicant is what their own certificate counts as.

There are three possible answers, and which one applies to you depends on your specific certificate, the school system it came from, the year, and sometimes your grades and subject combination. It is not determined by your nationality, and there is no general rule by country that is safe to rely on.

• Direct admission: your certificate is treated as equivalent, and you can apply straight to a degree programme
• Direct admission with subject restrictions: you can enter, but only in certain subject groups
• Studienkolleg first: your certificate is not treated as equivalent, and a preparatory year with an assessment examination is required

4. When a Studienkolleg is required

A Studienkolleg is a one-year preparatory course ending in an assessment examination, the Feststellungsprüfung. Passing it gives you an entrance qualification for the subject stream you took.

The streams matter, because they determine what you can then study. Choosing the wrong stream means preparing for the wrong degree.

5. Language requirements

Most Bachelor’s programmes in Germany are taught in German. English-taught undergraduate degrees exist but are far less common than at Master’s level, and they are concentrated in private institutions and in a few specific fields.

For a German-taught degree you need a recognised certificate, and "I speak good German" is not one. Universities accept a defined list, and the level required is high: these are academic examinations, not conversational tests.

• TestDaF: widely accepted, taken at licensed test centres worldwide
• DSH: taken at a German university, often the cheapest option once you are in Germany
• telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule: accepted by many institutions
• Goethe-Zertifikat C2: accepted broadly
• German Abitur or a Studienkolleg Feststellungsprüfung: satisfies the requirement in itself

6. How to apply

There is no single national application system for international applicants. Depending on the university and the subject, your application goes through uni-assist, directly to the university, or through the Hochschulstart platform for nationally restricted subjects such as medicine.

Work out which route applies for each programme before you start. Sending an application down the wrong channel usually means it is simply not considered.

1. 1

   Check your entrance qualification

   Establish whether you have direct access, restricted access or need a Studienkolleg. Everything else depends on this answer.

   anabin — database of foreign qualifications (opens in a new tab)
2. 2

   Find programmes

   Search by subject, degree and language of instruction. Note the language requirement and the application route for each one, because they differ.

   Hochschulkompass — degree programme search (opens in a new tab)
3. 3

   Identify the application route

   uni-assist for many universities, direct application for others, Hochschulstart for nationally restricted subjects. The programme page states which.

   uni-assist (opens in a new tab)
4. 4

   Prepare and certify documents

   Certified copies and certified translations are usually required, and getting them takes weeks. Start before the deadline is close.

5. 5

   Submit before the deadline

   Roughly mid-July for a winter start and mid-January for a summer start, but individual programmes vary and uni-assist needs weeks to process. Treat the published date as the last possible day, not the target.

6. 6

   Accept the offer and enrol

   You receive a Zulassungsbescheid, then enrol (Immatrikulation) and pay the semester contribution. The admission letter is what your visa application is built on.

7. Numerus clausus and restricted subjects

Some subjects have more applicants than places, and admission is restricted by a numerus clausus. The NC is not a fixed pass mark: it is whatever grade the last admitted applicant had in that intake, so it moves each year and by university.

Popular subjects such as psychology, medicine and law are restricted almost everywhere. Others are restricted at well-known universities and open at less famous ones with equally good teaching.

Medicine is a special case: it is allocated nationally through Hochschulstart, the competition is severe, and a quota exists for international applicants. Assume it is difficult rather than assuming your grades will be enough.

• Restricted subjects: apply to several universities, not only the well-known ones
• Open-admission (zulassungsfrei) programmes exist and are often at good institutions
• A Studienkolleg grade functions as your entrance grade for NC purposes
• Waiting semesters can count in some allocation procedures

8. Visa, money, insurance and housing

Non-EU students need a student visa, and the mission will want proof that you can fund your first year, normally through a blocked account. Health insurance is compulsory for enrolment, and you cannot matriculate without it.

Accommodation is the practical crisis in German student life. Student halls (Studentenwohnheim) are cheap and heavily oversubscribed, with waiting lists that can outlast a Bachelor’s degree in the largest cities. Apply the day you have an admission letter rather than after arriving.

• Blocked account or another accepted proof of funds for the visa
• Statutory student health insurance, at a reduced student rate, up to an age limit
• Address registration (Anmeldung) within the deadline after moving in
• A German bank account for rent and the semester contribution
• Broadcasting contribution per household, with an exemption possible for BAföG recipients

9. After you graduate

Germany deliberately makes it straightforward to stay and look for work after a degree. Graduates of German universities can obtain a residence permit to seek employment, and the period allowed is generous by international standards.

Once you have qualified work, the path continues: a work permit or EU Blue Card, and eventually permanent residence, with time spent studying counting partially towards some of those qualifying periods.

• A post-study period to look for qualified work
• An EU Blue Card where the role and salary qualify
• An ordinary work permit for qualified employment
• A Master’s degree in Germany, continuing on a student permit
• Permanent residence after a qualifying period in employment