Among the most desired destinations to study abroad for Indian students is Germany, a European nation with over 330 state universities and 100 per cent free tuition. The attraction for international students lies not only in the cost but also in its smooth internship programmes (for students who are proficient in German) and the fact that students can stay for 1.5 years after completing graduation in order to work.
The country is considered to have the biggest economy in Europe and offers 15000 Bachelor, Master and PhD degree programmes in the German language. Here are a few things students can do if they wish to pursue a course in Germany.
1. Learn the language:
Knowing German opens many doors in the nation from free tuition to gaining preference while hunting for jobs and internships. Knowing English makes the process of learning the language a little quicker. The training methods to learn German languages in the country are designed in such a way that even a slow learner could cope if the student shows discipline in learning.
There are two kinds of institutions that you can pick. The first, called universities, are research-oriented and award doctorates in a wide variety of courses. The second kind are Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen), which offer practice-oriented courses mainly in engineering, business administration, social sciences and design and have strong links to the industry.
Fachhochschulen do not award doctorate degrees. However, as a master degree holder from a Fachhochschule, you would still be eligible to apply for PhD at a university. Your interest and inclination should define which of the two kinds of institutions you choose.
According to Times Higher Education, LMU Munich, Heidelberg University, Technical University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin and Free University of Berlin are the top 5 universities in Germany.
A group of nine technical universities, called TU9, are considered to be the best German Universities for technical programmes and are among the world’s top technical universities. These TU9 Universities have partnerships with many IITs. Most of the programs in TU9 are taught in German language with little (upto Euro 500 per semester) or no tuition fee. Students can get admission in the 100 per cent scholarship programs at these universities without appearing for GRE and GATE if their German is strong.
For management programmes, some of Germany’s top business schools are Mannheim Business School, WHU, HHL, GISMA and Georg Simon Ohm University. In these schools, MBA programs are taught in the English language. Thus, German language skills are not required for admission. German MBAs are much affordable compared to US and Europe MBA programs, with average tuition fee of Euro 10,000 (Rs. 7 Lacs). German Business Schools are only international Business Schools worldwide that allows Indian students to enrol for part-time MBA. Lectures in part-time MBA usually happen during evenings and thrice week. This gives opportunity for students to take up full-time internships during the day. Strong performance in internships usually leads to successful full-time jobs in Germany.
