Essential aspects of the admission procedure for international students are:

a) the equivalence of the academic qualifications related to the requirements in Germany; for undergraduate admission the equivalence of the secondary school leaving certificate and for graduate admission the equivalence of the first academic degree. The recognition of certificates is carried out at Pforzheim University itself.

b) the language skills for studying

c) the quality of the application. Aspects for the quality on undergraduate level are: the average grade of the secondary school leaving certificate (weighted by relevant subjects and converted into the German grading system) and in all fields of Design the artistic aptitude test. For graduate admission some quality aspects are: average grade (or GPA) of the respective first degree, interview, and sometimes also work experience, score in relevant admission tests (Graduate Admission Tests like GRE, GMAT). 

Please consider the special admission procedures at the Design School. For information contact gestaltung.studicenter(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de. 

In undergraduate programs a certain quota of the capacity is reserved for international students. In all graduate programs the admision of international students is not limited; admission is based on the quality of the application only.
 

Admission process

All applications will have to meet the respective deadlines for admission. Depending on the level (undergraduate or graduate) and the home country international applicants should apply according to the different application procedures.

First, all applications are checked on completeness and readability. Second, the application is checked for formal criteria meeting the general entry requirements; these are the equivalence of the school/academic qualification to the requirements in Germany and the language requirements for studying the respective program.

Formally qualified applications will proceed to the evaluation of the quality of the application. Qualitative indicators are average grades or grades in relevant subjects, work experience etc (past perfomance), interview (present performance) and admission tests (predicted performance). The evaluation of an application is normally on the authority of the respective School/ Faculty/ Department. In case a candidate is selected, the student office will send a "letter of acceptance" (Zulassungsbescheid) to the home address of the applicant. The letter of acceptance will be issued in German and English and is quite often an essential part for the student visa application process. Most international students from outside the EU may need a visa via the German Embassies or consulates in the home country. The visa and the letter of acceptance are relevant for the immatriculation at the university. For the immatriculation international students will have to prove in addition: adequate health insurance, payment of tuition and student fees. 

The procedure for admission and immatriculation may last several weeks. Please expect about 2-4 weeks for the admission procedure (that is reviewing and evaluating the application). Posting your application and sending out the acceptance letter may also take about two weeks. For getting the visa please expect about 4-12 weeks (depending on the location). A total of about 16 weeks is an realistic estimation for the duration of the admission process.

Admission to Bachelor's degree programs

Foreign and stateless prospective students with a higher education entrance qualification obtained abroad (except EU citizens) can apply directly to the desired degree program via the applicant portal. Whether you have a higher education entrance qualification will be checked after your documents have been uploaded.

The application instructions can be found under this link:

https://campus.hs-pforzheim.de/qisserver/pages/cs/sys/portal/hisinoneStartPage.faces (see tab “BEWERBER/-INNEN”)

Deadlines for Non-EU applicants:
Winter semester: May 31st
Summer semester: November 30th.

You may also send your certificates to the Center for International Students in Konstanz for recognition. The Center for International Students administers these applications for all Universities of Applied Sciences of the state Baden-Wuerttemberg. All information regarding the deadlines and requirements are also available on the website of the Center for International Students in Konstanz. Please note that the processing time for applications is currently about four to five weeks.

The postal address is: 

Center for International Students Konstanz
Brauneggerstr. 55
78462 Konstanz, Germany

Once you have received your recognition of certificates from Konstanz you can apply until July 15th (winter semester) or January 15th (summer semester).
 

Admission to Master's degree programs

The application procedure for Master Programs is organized according to each program. Please visit the overview of master programs and select the desired degree program to obtain detailed information about the requirements and to go through the application procedure.
 

Further information

For international applicants the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD provides further relevant information about studying in Germany. These more general information materials are a good starting point for a future study period in Germany.