Even though, Germany did not exist as a modern country until 1871, university education in the region can be dated back to 1386 with the establishment of the University of Heidelberg. Higher education in Germany has come a long way since that, and as of 2021, apart from German students, higher education institutes in Germany had over 400,000 international students. When it comes to the higher education system in Germany and the preferences of international students, a recent survey has shown that more learners choose a University (Universitat) over a University of Applied Science (Fachhochschule) in Germany. Another study also found that 20 percent of all the international student enrollments in Germany are in Master’s programs which also highlight the demand for these programs among students from across the globe. Looking at PhD programs, over 25 percent of the enrollments are from international students and in 2018, 49 percent of all the foreign doctoral students received scholarship funding in Germany.  

The primary catalysts which have helped Germany to grow into a modern day international higher education hub are the quality of their education and the minimal tuition fees charged by the German public universities. Evolving with the times, Germany has been able to maintain their appeal among international students and lets’ analyze what are some of the latest changes the country is making to continue be a premier international higher education destination.      

Internationalization of Education

Over the years, Germany has garnered a reputation for its world-class engineering programs and in a recent survey, it was identified that 42 percent of international students enroll in engineering programs in Germany. Owing to this, Germany has consistently been ranked amongst the top 5 host countries when it comes to international degree students. Aside from this, one fact that can be surprising to many is that Germany is also ranked amongst the top sending countries when it comes to international degree students. And according to the latest statistics, there are over 135,000 German students who are pursuing their higher education in foreign countries. This is nearly double when compared to the number of German students who went to other countries for their higher education at the beginning of the century. This growth can be largely attributed to the Bologna reforms as well as the shifting paradigms in European internationalization.     

The changes made to the single-tier university degrees by splitting it into bachelor and master programs have not only helped Germany to attract more international students into their country but it has also helped German students to pursue their education in other countries as well. The German government has taken a proactive approach when it comes to internationalizing their students by making it an official policy goal to make at least 50 percent of all German students gain some type of study abroad experience.  And now, more than 80 percent of German international students study in Austria, the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland. The rest chose international higher education destinations in North America and in the Asia-Pacific region.     

Need for Improved International Student Recruitment

The German government has generously funded internationalization strategies as they have made their intentions clear in attracting the worlds’ smartest minds into the country. One of the primary reasons for this is the rising need to import skilled workers as Germany already lack more than 300,000 workers in the tech arena. And this acute labor shortage is expected to adversely impact the German economic growth by 2035. In order to address this issue, Germany is focusing on international graduates who can be excellent immigrants and contribute towards the growth of the German economy. To attract more international students, Germany has incentivized student mobility with the recent changes made to the immigration policies. These changes not only help international students to stay and work in the country for 18 more months, but it also helps students with sufficient employment contracts  and German language skills to have access to long-term work visas as well as permanent residency.   

 Transnational Education (TNE) to Improve Relations

TNE or Transnational Education can be referred to those programs or educational services in which the student is located in a different country than the one where the awarding educational institution is located in. When compared to countries like the UK, the US, and Australia, German higher education institutions are new to offering cross-border higher education. With that said, according to the German Academic Exchange Service - DAAD, as of now, German universities offer more than 250 programs in 30 plus countries to nearly 33,000 students. One facet that makes German TNEs unique from many others is the fact that it is part of a long-term internationalization strategy from the German government. And these cross-border partnerships are not only viewed as a method to increase the global competitiveness of German higher education institutions but it is also used as a development aid to support the academic capacity building in other countries.   

Indian Students in Germany

China is the largest international student market for Germany with more than 40,000 Chinese students enrolling in German higher education institutions recently. India is the second largest sender of international students to Germany with over 28,000 Indian students pursuing their higher education in Germany in 2022. While the number of Chinese students in Germany is increasing, Indian student numbers are clocking in the most growth recently and between 2016 and 2019, the number of Indian students in Germany has doubled. The plethora of STEM education opportunities coupled with the lower cost of higher education can be seen as the two major reasons which makes Germany an appealing higher education destination for Indian students. Aside from that, over the last decade, according to a research published by the Institute of International Education (IIE), there has been a significant rise in the number of English-taught programs in Germany which has also helped the country to become an attractive higher education option for aspiring international students.         

As a strategy to further accelerate the flow of international students, DAAD has come up with an initiative - ‘internationalization through digitalization’. The primary aim of this initiative will be to promote academic mobility though digital learning platforms, as well as webinars and online portals to match aspiring students with academic institutions. Aside from this, the German government is systematically promoting the country as a modern-day international science hub and many large scale funding are made as a part of this strategy. With all this, Germany is aiming to increase their presence in the global higher education space and continue their growth trajectory as a premier international study abroad destination.