Even if you have studied for a while in your home country, you still have to apply for admission to a degree course at the German institution of your choice. There are three exceptions to this rule:

We will help you with the admission requirements, whether your secondary school-leaving certificate or your qualification for admission to higher education, respectively, is sufficient for direct admission to higher education institutions in Germany or if you will be required to take the Assessment Test (Feststellungsprüfung).

More details about admission requirements can be found here.

Here we provide an application form for admission to studies for foreign applicants. Please note that some Higher Education Institutions in certain federal states of Germany (e.g. Bavaria) do not accept the application form you find here.

Please make sure before applying to a certain University or Fachhochschule that the application form will be accepted.

Certain subjects are so popular that there are not enough study places. German and international students are then subject to a selection process in which the average marks gained in the "Abitur" or the equivalent foreign higher education entrance qualification (in most cases the school leaving certificate) determine admission. There are disciplines subject to restricted admissions ("Numerus clausus") throughout Germany (e.g. medicine, pharmacology), while others are only subject to regional or local restrictions. Since great importance is attached to enabling foreign citizens to study at German institutions of higher education, a certain percentage of study places in restricted admissions subjects have been reserved for international applicants. See this as encouragement and go ahead and apply for these subjects as well.

As soon as you have received notification of admission ("Zulassungsbescheid") from the International Office ("Akademisches Auslandsamt") and taken the language test, you can register as a student at the respective institution of higher education (you will be given a registration number, "Matrikelnummer"). The notification of admission also tells you by when you should register. Please note that the deadlines are often short-term and that you usually have to appear in person! Registration takes place at the Registrar's or Admissions Office ("Studentensekretariat" or "Immatrikulationsamt"). The procedures differ from one institution to another, so get hold of a copy of the information leaflet from the Registrar's Office well in advance. This will tell you which documents you have to bring with you, eg. certificates, usually the originals with certified translations. In any case, apart from the notification of admission, you will have to produce a health insurance certificate ("Krankenversicherungsnachweis") unless you fall into one of the exceptional categories exempt from compulsory insurance cover.

Public (state-maintained) universities in Germany do not generally charge tuition fees. Some Master's programmes and the additional fees charged by some of the federal states are exceptions to this rule. Additionaly, you will be required to pay a minimal social contribution ("Sozialgebühr") which can extend 50 euros depending on the institution, which will entitle you to a student identity card, a course record book (at universities), and several registration certificates ("Immatrikulationsbescheinigungen"). By registering and paying the social contribution at some institutions you become entitled to a so-called "Semester Ticket" which allows you to use public transport during the semester free of charge. The charge for the social contribution is increased accordingly. Now you are a certified student in Germany. The student identity card is usually a computer print-out, although some institutions have introduced an identity card (similar to a credit card) so that certain administrative procedures, such as registration renewal, course registration and library lending, merely involve inserting the card into a machine. You need the registration certificates when applying for student accommodation or for obtaining reduced-price fares from the transport companies.

Registration at German institutions of higher education is only valid for one semester. If you want to continue studying in Germany subsequently you have to submit a registration renewal declaration ("Rückmeldeerklärung") for the next semester to the Registrar's Office. This you will receive together with your course record book ("Studienbuch"). Similarly, each semester you will have to produce a new insurance certificate from your health insurance agency and pay the social contribution (and the semester ticket where applicable). There are closing-dates for renewing registration which are posted in the Registrar's Office and contained in the university catalogue. Please note that you will be exmatriculated if you fail to renew your registration in time!

With your course record book you will receive a registration sheet ("Belegbogen") for noting the lectures and seminars you have attended. You need it for registering for examinations, together with the course certificates ("Scheine"), proving you have taken part in the mandatory parts of your course. At many institutions (especially Fachhochschulen) the requirement to provide documentary evidence has been waived but the registration sheet can be very useful for informing your own institution at home what lectures and seminars you have attended abroad.

Just registering at the Registrar's Office is not always the end of the procedure. As a rule you will have to register in writing at your department or departments, too. Enquire at the secretary's office as early as possible whether and when you need to call there and which documents you should take with you. At registration you will receive a seminar card ("Seminarkarte") which you have to renew each semester. The seminar card can only be collected at specific times, too, and these will be posted in the department.
N.B.: Due to the fact that some courses are far too full many professors now require students to register for their lectures and seminars before the semester begins. When a certain number has been reached, registration is simply closed. So do enquire at the department well in advance to which courses this applies.

Well, as you are getting plenty of exercise running from one office to the next you might as well pop round to the Students' Union, AStA, or the Student Representation at your institution, to pick up an International Student Identity Card for about € 4-6. It entitles you to reduced rate travel and entry tickets abroad. The FIYTO-Card (Federation of International Youth Travel Organisation) is also extremely useful. It offers a lot of reductions on foreign travel to students up to the age of 26. It is available from Student Services ("Studentenwerk") together with the Franco-German Social Card which entitles you to eat at French university restaurants and apply for accommodation in French student hostels during the recess.