Applying to study with foreign school and degree certificates

If you apply to study at a Hessian university with foreign certificates, it will be checked whether you meet the necessary requirements.

State universities

If you would like to study at a state university with a foreign school or university degree, your degree must qualify you for university admission.

If you have a higher education entrance qualification for the desired course of study, you may have to meet further admission requirements. These are not the same for all universities and degree courses. Some degree courses require proof of special subject-specific skills and language skills must also be demonstrated.

The state universities in Hessen provide information and advice on these requirements.

The universities will help you to apply for degree programs in Hessen in a timely and formal manner and provide information on which documents and certificates you need to submit.

Some universities have outsourced the checking of foreign certificates to external service providers, for example uni-assist e.V. This may incur costs.

Private universities and vocational academies

Applicants with foreign educational certificates may only study at a private university or university of cooperative education if their educational certificates are recognized as equivalent to a German university entrance qualification.

For admission to a course of study at a private university, state-recognized vocational academy or university of applied sciences in Hesse, the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts examines and evaluates the equivalence of the foreign educational certificates.

The foreign educational certificates must be submitted by the applicants directly to the private universities and vocational academies. The private universities and universities of cooperative education then submit the documents to be submitted either digitally or by post to the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts.

If you apply to study at a state university in Hessen with foreign certificates, the respective university will check whether you meet the necessary requirements.

If you are applying with foreign certificates to study at a private university, a state-recognized vocational academy or a university of applied sciences, the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts will assess your higher education entrance qualification.

At state universities:

• General application documents (depending on the degree program or rules of the universities)
• This includes all previous school-leaving certificates and university certificates, translated according to the requirements of the respective university and as a certified copy
• Sufficient proof of language proficiency for the respective degree program language
• APS certificate for applicants from China and Vietnam

At private universities and vocational academies:

• Curriculum vitae in tabular form
• Proof of identity
• Foreign educational certificate(s) (accompanied copy)
• Subjects and overview of grades (accompanied copy)
• Translations and transliterations of the above-mentioned certificates, if applicable

At state universities:

Forms/online services available: Yes

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance necessary: No

At private universities and vocational academies:

Forms available: No

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance necessary: No

• You are interested in studying in Hessen and have a school-leaving certificate that was not obtained at a German school or you have a foreign university degree
• You must apply in due form and time with all required documents
• You must submit educational certificates obtained abroad which, according to the assessment proposals of the KMK, published in the anabin database of the Central Office for Foreign Education, open up access to higher education.

• Appeal: Detailed information on how to lodge an appeal can be found in the decision regarding your application
• Appeal to the administrative court

At state universities:

If you want to apply to study in Hessen with a foreign certificate, please check the respective websites of the individual universities, as the application procedures and deadlines of the universities are regulated differently. You can also find out there whether you have to submit your application in writing (analog) or electronically.

As a rule, the procedure is as follows:

• You submit your application with the necessary documents to the university
• Your certificates and supporting documents will be checked as part of the application process. If necessary, missing documents will be requested
• The positive result of the examination leads to participation in the admission procedure

At private universities and vocational academies:

The assessment and recognition of foreign educational certificates as university entrance qualifications can be applied for by post or digitally. For this purpose, the private universities and vocational academies submit the application for the assessment and recognition of foreign educational certificates as a higher education entrance qualification to the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts together with the documents to be submitted.

• The Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts examines the documents submitted.
• An administrative fee is payable for the examination of the documents.
• A notification will be issued regarding the recognition of the foreign educational certificates as a university entrance qualification.
• If the result of the examination is negative, you will be informed of the reason for the rejection.

If you have submitted the documents by post, you will receive them back by post.

The application deadlines are set by the individual universities in Hessen. Please check the respective websites and note the application deadlines for degree programs with admission restrictions.

It can take up to eight weeks to process your application.

There is no statutory deadline.

If expert opinions on the foreign certificates have to be obtained, the processing time may be extended accordingly.

At state universities:

• Please contact the respective university to find out whether fees apply.

At private universities and vocational academies:

• There is an administrative fee of 110 to 160 euros.

Application deadlines, requirements and procedures are usually described in detail by the universities on their websites. General information on the recognition of foreign educational qualifications is provided by anabin.

Information is usually available in German and English.