Applying for guest student status at a university

Would you like to participate in individual courses at a university without being enrolled? Apply for a guest auditorship.

If you would like to participate in individual courses of a university without wanting to enroll, there is the possibility of a guest auditorship.

A guest auditorship offers the opportunity to get to know the university and the studies.

Application for guest auditorship of the respective university:

• In the application, information about the person, the desired semester and the planned course with the corresponding semester hours per week must be stated.
• At some universities, it is necessary to have guest participation in a desired course approved. Please inquire at your desired university about the corresponding requirements
• In order for the application for guest auditorship to be approved, the amount for the guest auditorship must have been credited to the university's account. The respective university will inform you when and how the amount is to be paid

Forms/online services available: Yes

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance required: No

is either the consent of the course management or the prior approval of a course for guest auditors by the respective department.

Proof of a university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur) is not required.

Guest students are limited in time and subject to a fee.

Since guest auditors can only be admitted by the university within the framework of the existing study options, there is no rejection notice and therefore no legal remedy instruction.

If the capacity of a desired course has already been exhausted due to the occupancy of regular students, participation as a guest auditor cannot be guaranteed.

Each university makes an application for guest auditorship available on its website. The completed application must be submitted to the respective university in due time and the guest auditor's fee must be paid.

You can find out which courses are offered at a university via the course catalogue of your desired university on its website. Some universities offer separate directories for guest auditors.

Whether guest auditorship is possible for a particular course and how many semester hours per week may be attended is decided either by the course director or the respective department. Prior consent or release must be obtained from them. The university will inform you about how you can obtain this consent and when and how the amount for the guest auditorship is to be paid.

After the application has been received by the responsible university office and the payment of the fees due has been demonstrably made, the application will be examined and a decision will be made as to whether a guest auditorship can be granted.

With the approved application for guest auditorship, the right to participate in the desired courses arises.

The application for guest auditorship must be submitted early in accordance with the deadlines of the respective university.

There is no statutory processing deadline for applications for guest auditorship. The processing takes place after receipt of the guest auditor application. Some universities also require that the guest auditor fee has been credited to the university account for processing.

Depending on the scope of the desired courses, the universities charge guest auditor fees of 50 to 500 euros for each semester. Please inquire via the website of your desired university about the respective amounts, the number of possible semester hours per week, the payment deadlines and method of payment.

• As a guest auditor, you do not have the status of a student.
• You are also not entitled to a student ticket to use public transport.
• As a rule, guest auditors are not entitled to take examinations. Examinations can only be completed by guest auditors in exceptional cases. Information on this is available from the respective universities.
• As a guest auditor, you are not entitled to the use of university offers such as library, university sports and so on.