In Germany, there are currently 397 universities with approx. 2.8 million students. 115 of these are universities, 217 are universities of applied sciences, 57 are colleges of art or music, 8 are “others”. The study programs are, as in other European countries, structured as following: Bachelor programs with a standard period of study of three years, master’s program with a standard period of study of two years and if an academic career is desired, then a doctorate. About 360,000 foreign students are enrolled at German universities. This makes Germany the fourth most popular host country and the most popular non-English speaking host country. The internationalization increased during the last years. In the winter semester 2018/19, 21.1% of all first-semester students were from another country. On the other hand, 30,000 German students participate in the ERASMUS program of the EU every year and study in other European countries. About 25% of all students who are enrolled at German universities complete a study-related stay abroad during their studies. Further information concerning the German university system can be found here. For anyone interested in doing a doctorate after completing their master program, please check this website.
The grading system
The grading system used at German universities ranges from one to five with one as the best and five as the worst grade. The grades can be summarized as follows:
1.0 Sehr gut (Very good)
2.0 Gut (Good)
3.0 Befriedigend (Satisfactory)
4.0 Ausreichend (Sufficient)
5.0 Nicht Bestanden (Failed)
To pass an exam, you must achieve at least a 4.0. At the university, there are also intermediate grades, which are represented by decimal numbers. For the evaluation of examinations the following grades can be given: 1,0; 1,3; 1,7; 2,0; 2,3; 2,7; 3,0; 3,3; 3,7; 4,0 and 5,0. In the graph below you can see a detailed range of all possible grades.
