German Universities Gaining Popularity Among Foreign Students

According to a report by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), foreign students find Germany quite attractive.

The number of foreign students moving to Germany as their first choice destination has increased from 47% in 2009 to 61% of the number polled in 2013. This could be attributed to the simplified process of accrediting foreign certificates and qualifications. In 2012, 75 per cent of foreign degree certificates were recognized as compared to 60 per cent in 2009.

Moreover, foreigners are more satisfied with the simplified access to information on residence laws, financing and how to deal with the authorities. (I wonder when, how and what was done in this regard. I still find it hard to access most of this information yet I can speak and read German. Wonder how simplified it is for foreigners who speak absolutely no German at all…..On this, I’d say wametudanganya hakuna simplification hapo.)

Although the popularity has risen, foreign students still face some challenges in Germany namely: finding a place to live, lack of contact to German students, orientation in the study system, and financing study.

Germany is most popular among the Chinese followed by Russians, Austrians, Bulgarians, Poles, Turks, Ukrainians and Indians. Brazil has for the first time made it into the top 20. There were 92,853 foreign students enrolled in German Universities in 2012.