Why international students love Germany, and one reason they don't

Germany has steadily risen in popularity as a study abroad destination.

As of 2021/2022, the Schengen member country has over 400,000 international students enrolled in its higher education institutions, with a total of 440,564 international students enrolled in the German higher education sector.

From 2014 to 2019, the number of international students in the country increased by approximately 30.9%, and by an additional 37.0% between 2014 and 2022.

Why do international students choose to study in Germany?

In its "Benchmark International University" (BintHo) study, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) polled roughly 120,000 German and international students.

The BintHo study is the largest survey on student mobility in Germany.

"The current findings show that Germany is an extremely attractive place to study and that the German labour market is very attractive to international students, and that students from all over the world are very satisfied with their German universities," said DAAD President Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee.

The good

According to the BintHo study, more than three-quarters (76%) of the international students surveyed chose Germany as their top study abroad destination.

International students select a higher education institution based on factors such as course content (58%) and the institution's reputation (53%), the absence of tuition fees (52%) and the availability of English-language study programmes (48%). Students with a master's degree reported the latter category significantly more frequently than those with a bachelor's degree (62% versus 32%, respectively).

The reasons for studying in Germany were an attractive selection of university courses and good study conditions (91%), the international reputation of German degrees (88%), and good post-graduation employment prospects (81%).

Only about a quarter of the international students were enrolled in German-only degree programmes.

In contrast, only 27% of Bachelor's degree students studied in English, while two-thirds of Master's degree students did so. Student approval of German universities is high: Eighty-two percent of the international students surveyed would recommend their current institution to others.

The survey revealed that more than sixty percent of respondents intend to remain in Germany after graduation.

Since the German government approved tuition-free education in 2014, the number of international students has increased from 301,350 to 440,564.

In Germany, slightly more than 56% of international students were accepted to the university of their choice.

The most important sources of information when selecting a higher education institution are the institution's website (76%), ranking and assessment portals (40%), DAAD information (36%) and friends or family members who have or are currently enrolled at the institution (36%).

The bad

Around sixty percent of international students find it difficult to find housing.

More than 35,000 students in eleven German university towns – Berlin, Darmstadt, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, Gottingen, Hamburg, Hanover, Heidelberg, Cologne, Mainz, and Munich – were still awaiting a response to their hall of residence application as of mid-September of last year.

“Affordable housing for students is in absolute short supply, once again at the beginning of a winter semester. This structural problem makes it difficult for first-semester students to start their studies, and it makes it difficult for all students who, after four Corona semesters, now want to study in person at their universities and live in their university towns,” the Secretary General of DSW Matthias Anbuhl had said commenting the situation.

Courtesy : The Economics Times